COLUMBIA HEIGHTS UPDATE: The RLA Revitalization Corp. will sponsor a "community briefing" April 8 to provide an update on development plans for vacant city-owned sites in the 14th Street NW corridor. Site maintenance also is on the agenda, following numerous public complaints during the winter about snow removal on adjacent sidewalks.

The meeting is scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room at Bell Multicultural Senior High School, 3145 Hiatt Place NW. Part of the meeting will be devoted to repeating a presentation that was initially made at the National Building Museum in January, when an admission fee was charged. There will be no charge for the April 8 presentation.

OPENING APPROACHES: The long-awaited opening of the new Washington Convention Center will arrive March 30 with a gala celebration, and the new mammoth building’s neighbor to the south also is planning a grand affair for its opening in mid-May.

The Historical Society of Washington D.C. hopes its new City Museum, housed in the city’s old Carnegie Library at Mount Vernon Square, will beckon conventioneers and also encourage tourists to explore the District’s historic residential neighborhoods. While a nominal admission fee is planned for viewing the museum’s interactive exhibits, residents and researchers will be allowed free access to the museum’s library and special programs for local schoolchildren also are planned. A gift shop inside the museum will feature D.C.-oriented merchandise.

JANNEY AUCTION: The annual benefit auction for Janney Elementary School will be held from 7 to 11 p.m. April 5 at St. Columba’s Church, 4201 Albemarle St. NW. The evening will feature food and drink as well as an opportunity to bid on items from art work to vacations. In addition to the $20 admission charge, raffle tickets may be purchased for chances to win a series of cash prizes. Tickets are available from any Janney parent or by calling (202) 537-9001.

REFURBISHED SAFEWAY: Safeway’s Palisades supermarket, the oldest among the chain’s 136 Eastern Division stores, got a facelift to mark its 60th anniversary and reopened on March 19 after being temporarily closed for about 10 weeks. All equipment in the store, at 4865 MacArthur Blvd. NW, was replaced during the refurbishment, which included a new floor, ceiling and roof also being installed, according to Safeway spokesman Craig Muckle. While such major investment in an existing supermarket qualifies it to seek an alcoholic beverage license, Muckle said Safeway has no plans to seek an ABC license for the store because it is too small to accommodate the additional department.

PROPERTY ASSESSMENT APPEALS: The Board of Directors of Plan Takoma is calling on city officials to extend by one month the deadline for appealing residential property tax assessments. The April 1 deadline for appealing assessments that were issued on March 1 places an undue burden on "residents who have received very significant increases under the recently-instituted annual assessments of their properties," the board wrote in a letter to Councilman Adrian Fenty. Fenty and Councilman Phil Mendelson have scheduled a series of public meetings this week to help residents understand the assessment process and how they may appeal an inappropriate assessment. The meetings are listed in The Common Denominator’s Public Affairs Calendar, which begins on page 2.

CAMPUS PLANS: New 10-year campus plans for Catholic University and Gallaudet University are pending before the D.C. Zoning Commission.

The commission recently held a public hearing on Catholic U’s plan, upon which it is expected to act sometime in May. Subsequent to the hearing, the D.C. Department of Transportation (DDOT) recommended on March 10 that the commission reject the university’s request to close John McCormack Road NE at Michigan Avenue. DDOT said the closure would "have an adverse impact on existing traffic conditions, restrict vehicular access to the campus, increase vehicular volume on neighboring streets, and restrict the local community access to a public roadway."

The commission has scheduled a public hearing on Gallaudet’s plan for 6:30 p.m. April 28 in the Office of Zoning Hearing Room, Suite 220, at One Judiciary Square, 441 Fourth St. NW. Persons wishing to testify at the hearing may call (202) 727-6311 for additional information.

H STREET CLEANUP: Mayor Anthony A. Williams is expected to drop by and lend a hand on March 29 when the H Street Main Street program sponsors a neighborhood cleanup from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. as part of the "Great American Clean Up," an annual spring event. Participants will meet at the H Street Connection at 900 H St. NE to get gloves, trash bags and free coffee. For more information, contact Tomika Hughey at (202) 486-0346.

KINGSMAN SCHOOL SALE: D.C. City Council recently approved the sale of the former Kingsman Elementary School, long a neighborhood eyesore, to the Charter Schools Development Corp. The building is to be redeveloped to house two charter schools: Options and Sasha Bruce. Renovations on the building are expected to start by April 1, according to Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Michael Musante.

SUPPORTING AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: Students at H.D. Woodson Senior High School have organized students from D.C. high schools citywide to join a nationwide demonstration in support of affirmative action at the U.S. Supreme Court on April 1. A rally is planned at Woodson on March 24 to educate students on the issues involved in the University of Michigan affirmative action case that will be heard April 1 by the Supreme Court. D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton will speak at the rally as a representative of the Congressional Black Caucus, which has endorsed the national demonstration.

METROBUS CHANGES: Metrobus routes W4 and W9 are among the local casualties of U.S. military action in Iraq. The military’s heightened state of security restricted access to Bolling Air Force Base and the Navy’s Anacostia Annex on March 21, stopping those buses from entering the installations. Both Metrobus routes will be detoured via South Capitol Street between Firth Sterling Avenue and Malcolm X Avenue. Passengers who must access the military bases will be able to get off the Metrobuses at the Navy’s Firth Sterling Gate, walk through the security checkpoint and board an internal military shuttle bus that will follow the usual Metrobus routing within the Navy Annex and Bolling.

COMMUNITY CENTER PLAN: A nonprofit group called Building Bridges Across the River Inc. has partnered with the D.C. government to seek proper zoning to construct a community center called the Town Hall Education and Arts Recreation on 16.43 acres of currently unzoned, leased National Park Service land along Mississippi Avenue SE in Congress Heights. The center is expected to house Covenant House of Washington, Levine School of Music, the Washington Ballet Wellness Center and other community uses.

A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. March 31 in the Office of Zoning Hearing Room, Suite 220, at One Judiciary Square, 441 Fourth St. NW.

Copyright 2003, The Common Denominator