My Opera1234 Ninth Followup
Friday, July 10, 2009 1:57:02 PM
The editor started on 1234 Ninth here. The fixation on 1234 is really a celebration of the Long View Gallery moving in there, but the history of what has gone on in that building is fascinating.
Before City Lights it was some sort of auto repair center, and that's covered nicely in Preserving DC Stables in this post. In researching the address a while back he kept coming across a reference like
1234 9th Street NW
T & W Auto
Washington, DC 20001
202-842-5470
He and wife bought in 1978 and moved into the (mostly) renovated house in 1980. He doesn't recall an official auto shop back then, although the alley was in informal auto repair spot for many a shade tree mechanic. But without the trees. The City Lights referenced in the last post may well have begun after he moved in by a few years.
After City Lights moved on, and the City Lights go-go joint died aborning, it was soon
1234 9th Street NW
Muzollo Vending
Washington, DC 20001
202-232-6038
Lots and lots of those vendor carts being towed out of the alley in the morning and back in the evening.
Then it changed hands again, perhaps after a period of vacancy. Now it was to be a charter school. The announcement of the first presentation thereon was here, in the old, pre-blog Blagden Alley and Naylor Court newsletter. Let us just say that the community was not as enthralled as some people expected. Somehow, "charter school" did not equate with "good thing". Discussion dragged on over the goodness of the school, for example this hysterical page from the Blagden Alley and Naylor Court news.
Sometime in the next year, the charter school thing went south. It did involve lots of difficulty, ADA issues, pollution issues (think of all those oil spills many moons ago), and historical preservation issues.
So 1234 Ninth lay dormant for a bit. Now it is nicely alive. Over thirty years, it has been interesting to watch.
Before City Lights it was some sort of auto repair center, and that's covered nicely in Preserving DC Stables in this post. In researching the address a while back he kept coming across a reference like
1234 9th Street NW
T & W Auto
Washington, DC 20001
202-842-5470
He and wife bought in 1978 and moved into the (mostly) renovated house in 1980. He doesn't recall an official auto shop back then, although the alley was in informal auto repair spot for many a shade tree mechanic. But without the trees. The City Lights referenced in the last post may well have begun after he moved in by a few years.
After City Lights moved on, and the City Lights go-go joint died aborning, it was soon
1234 9th Street NW
Muzollo Vending
Washington, DC 20001
202-232-6038
Lots and lots of those vendor carts being towed out of the alley in the morning and back in the evening.
Then it changed hands again, perhaps after a period of vacancy. Now it was to be a charter school. The announcement of the first presentation thereon was here, in the old, pre-blog Blagden Alley and Naylor Court newsletter. Let us just say that the community was not as enthralled as some people expected. Somehow, "charter school" did not equate with "good thing". Discussion dragged on over the goodness of the school, for example this hysterical page from the Blagden Alley and Naylor Court news.
Sometime in the next year, the charter school thing went south. It did involve lots of difficulty, ADA issues, pollution issues (think of all those oil spills many moons ago), and historical preservation issues.
So 1234 Ninth lay dormant for a bit. Now it is nicely alive. Over thirty years, it has been interesting to watch.
