Right when you thought the Lincoln Theatre was all cashed out, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced earlier today that the District plans to develop two city-owned properties behind the theater and use a portion of the funds generated by the properties to support the theater’s future operations.

Fenty says its his hope that the two properties on the 90,000-square-foot parking lot will bring in enough revenue to help keep the cash-strapped 88-year-old theater afloat.

Early last year, Lincoln officials threatened to shut down the once-popular theater due to lack of finances until the D.C. gov put up a $200,000 grant to keep the doors open. The District also spent another $1.5 million last year for capital improvements that are nearly complete.

Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham and At-Large Councilmember Kwame R. Brown also attended the announcement today outside the theaterss U Street entrance.

“We want to bring the Lincoln Theatre where it should be,” said Graham, who has been on the theater’s board for 10 years.

It was a shame the announcement did not take place in the back parking lot so everyone could see where all the action was taking place. The District is requiring that any development will provide ongoing financial support for the theater and include at least 7,500 square feet of flexible event space. Bids for the site are due by July 18 and construction is scheduled to begin by October of this year.

Opened in 1922, the Lincoln Theatre is known for hosting big-name performers, including Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. Early next month, Maya Angelou is scheduled to celebrate her 80th birthday there. Maybe she can give over her birthday cash to help out?

—Whitney Boyd

A few weeks ago, Mr. T in DC complained about the new crossing guards posted at the DCUSA’s Big Box Heaven in Columbia Heights. Mr. T writes:

In one sense, their deployment is a remarkable show of efficiency and planning by the DC government. In addition, the city repaved a bumpy stretch of 14th just north of Target, and laid down new crosswalk striping at some of the key intersections in the vicinity….

However, it seems to me the crossing guards are actually slowing things down for both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The mere presence of people in the middle of the road, wearing bright yellow, waving arms, and blowing whistles is causing some hesitation, especially when they contradict the traffic lights. For pedestrians, they are slowing everyone down by insisting on strict but unrealistic compliance with the walk/don’t walk signals.”

I think Mr. T has a point. I know I hesitate just a little bit when turning on to my street. Hey! I don’t want to hit and/or piss off one of those whistle-blowing crossing guards! Still. At first the traffic wasn’t terrible with the new Target. It just meant that nearly every day felt like Sunday. Instead of churchgoers parking on my block, we have shoppers clutching huge reams of toilet paper.

The traffic has become terrible. I noticed with the opening of Best Buy, 14th Street NW became what we all thought it would–a huge headache. This past Saturday, a line of cars stretched from 14th and Irving to well past the old Giant. Basically, the traffic was backed up as far as the eye could see. It was around noon.

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We learn from Philebrity - via Doree - that the National Main Streets Conference, in Philadelphia, will include a seminar entitled, “Understanding the Hipster.” To wit:

What is a “hipster,” precisely? We struggle to understand these peculiar sorts — with their deliberately-unkempt look, their ironic t-shirts, their embrace of dead beer brands, and their Elvis Costello-like glasses. But it is critically important that we do so, given their willingness to pioneer neighborhoods, their role in setting trends, and their importance to the “creative class” economy. In this fun and interactive seminar, the speaker, who counts many hipsters among his friends, demystifies this vital psychographic, describing how they think, what they want in a neighborhood, how they spend their money, and much more.

I wonder what “interactive” means. Maybe fun games like picking out the best Elvis Costello glasses. Or how to tell an ironic t-shirt from a cheesy t-shirt.

The seminar’s leader, Michael J. Berne, sells himself as an expert in “ethnic, socio-economic and psycho-graphic “niche” markets.” He seems to have specialized, in part, in bringing chain stores to low-income urban neighborhoods. I found this charming quote in a blog about citizen concerns about steamrolling development.

“Let’s not romanticize mom-and-pops; the honest truth is some of these businesses do not deserve protection.”

Yeah, cheesy headline. But here’s a cheesy story to go with:

If you live in the city, you have to get used to your favorite places closing. Who isn’t still mourning A.V. shutting its doors? Behind the coats of fresh paint, shiny bright neon, and all those condos, lay the ghosts of once-favorite hotspots. Of course there are things people will never mourn. No one will ever shed a tear if a CVS closed. No one will devote ink to a shuttered Chinese carryout. So it’s not unreasonable that no one really noticed the closing of the MotoPhoto in Dupont Circle.

In the age of digital and Snapfish, who really cares about a MotoPhoto?

Well I had to care. Its licensed and trained photo technicians still had my prints.

Right before New Year’s, I paid $9 to get some prints made at that MotoPhoto franchise. The prints were nothing special just photos I took along my walk to work and some leftover things from a summer trip to South Africa. The photos would take a day.

But when I returned to pick up my pics, I found the shop a mere shell. There was nothing but bare drywall. There were no novelty frames, no advertisements for jumbo prints in vivid color, or bored looking licensed photo technicians in sight. The doors were locked. A sign had been made directing people to Embassy up the street.

I knew my photos were lost. But I still called around to other MotoPhotos. They all were ignorant of my brilliant black-and-whites (with borders). They all directed me to the MotoPhoto Mothership online. I wrote an e-mail to their help desk.

After getting bounced around, this came into my inbox from a “Jim Murphy Franchise Service Manager“:

Good evening Mr. Cherkis,

I apologize that you were not properly notified of the DuPont location’s intention to close. The owner of that location does not have any other locations open, and to the best of our knowledge did not leave the remaining pictures at any of the other area MotoPhoto locations.

I will attempt to contact the owner, and share with you any information gained.

Again, on behalf of the other MotoPhoto Franchisees, I would like to apologize for this situation.

The apology was nice and all. But I wanted a discount at the very least. That discount finally came today. I told my sad story to the MotoPhoto in Cleveland Park. The clerk called his boss. The boss agreed to just make a new set prints for free. So thank you MotoPhoto Cleveland Park branch!

OK, so that news broke roughly three years ago, followed by a breathy announcement in the Post about the grocery chain’s planned store at 17th and Kalorama, expected to open in fall 2006.

But, this just in, couresy of Jim Graham: The Teet’s actually thinking about hiring people in 2008. There’s a job fair and everything, Jan. 9, at the Columbia Heights Community Center. Can in-store sushi bars and wine shops be so very far away?

Even if D.C. ever really got enough snow to make a snowman, I have to wonder: Is there anything more pathetic than one that comes to life via Restoration Hardware?

To wit: Kit ($14.99) comes with “everything you need to dress Frosty in his finest,” including “coal” for the eyes and mouth, a “carrot” nose, three buttons, and a pipe, all carved of hardwood and mounted on skewers. While waiting for enough snow to hold your wood, keep your handcrafted items in the knit cap (surely not made in Sri Lanka). It doubles as a storage bag!

No need to search for stones and sticks. That’s for the kids in Ward 7.

The Washington Business Journal has an interesting piece in this week’s issue about the development potential of school properties on the closure list. “At the top of the list might be Hine Junior High School, a 131,300 square-foot Capital Hill building at the corner of Eighth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue SE that is set snuggly among Eastern Market, the Metro station of the same name and the Barracks Row retail corridor,” writes reporter Jonathan O’Connell. The article also mentions three sites in the prime-for-development Brookland area. (And O’Connell did track down one developer, Jim Abdo of Abdo Development, willing to go on record saying he was “very interested in looking at what’s available.”) At least four buildings look safe from bulldozers, according to the article, the Ward 8 schools: Wilkinson Elementary, Douglass Transition Center, Green Elementary, P.R. Harris Educational Center.

Photo credit: Darrow Montgomery

There appears to be a major sidewalk divide. The sidewalks fronting old row houses had yet to be salted down. Those walkways were still sheets of ice by 9:30 this morning. But the sidewalks in front of some sleek lofts in Adams Morgan were clear. Also clear were the sidewalks in front of Starbucks and Results on U Street NW. Not so clear: the sidewalk bordering the Third District Police Station.

So put ice removal in the positive column for D.C.’s gentrification wave.

On an average weekday afternoon, the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Adams Morgan is closed, with locked gates, and a homeless person or two lounges on the building’s steps. In recent years, local real estate investor and developer Brian Friedman has been trying to develop this prime spot just around the corner from 18th Street’s packed bar strip.

Initial plans called for converting the church into condominiums, says Friedman. But after the District’s Historic Preservation Review Board criticized the plans, Friedman completely scrapped the original idea and came up with a brand new vision: a boutique hotel.

If the plans are approved, the hotel would expand south beyond the church’s property into a space that’s now an office building that happens to house Washington City Paper.

The building is owned by the paper’s former owners. (In July, the newspaper was sold to Creative Loafing Inc., which did not buy the building.) “It absolutely shocked me: [a hotel] there in Adams Morgan at Champlain and Euclid—are you kidding me?” says Tom Yoder, a former part-owner of City Paper. “But would I have bet $10,000 10 years ago that there would not be condominiums like there are on Champlain Street? Absolutely.”

Yoder says the company’s board of directors has approved a contract to sell Friedman the building in December 2009. Washington City Paper’s management is currently scouting for a new location.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of Ruth Samuelson’s story was mistakenly published originally.

The D.C. Sports Bog is all over the people hawking Sean Taylor death gear including the funeral program for $102.50 on Ebay. We like the “Limited Edition Sean Taylor Pop Art” poster currently bidding at $14.50.

The always reliable Prince of Petworth captures some interesting fliers posted on the Saloon’s windows.

In Sunday’s Marc Fisher column, the Post journalist discovers that Starbucks doesn’t like the homeless and hates publicity about its hating the homeless. I know it’s two days old. But if you haven’t read the column, you should.

Last week, at an October 23rd ANC2C meeting, local developer Debbie Smith trotted out some architectural plans for a new day spa to be located at the corner of 7th and P Streets NW in Shaw. This wasn’t the first time the ANC heard of Smith’s proposal.

She casually announced her intentions at a June meeting, to a not-so-glowing reaction. One commenter suggested this “very crucial parcel” be developed as affordable housing or space for restaurants or some “really good coffee shops,” according to clips posted online.

Commissioner Kevin Chapple says the ANC did not take a position on Smith’s plans. At this point, he’s heard of one other developer interested in the space: Banneker Ventures is considering plans for a block-long development in the area with commercial and residential properties.

Other notes from last week’s meeting: According to Smith and the representative from her architectural firm, the proposed “home-grown” day spa (Smith’s words) would have three levels of commercial units, which would include a first-level barber shop/hair salon, a lower-level dermatologist office with some yoga space, a relaxation room, with amenities for users, manicures, make-up studios, and massages areas. The top floors of the building would have several residential units.

Black Cat: Curator Welmoed Laanstra hit up 15 local artists for the Washington Project for the Arts\Corcoran’s “Site Projects D.C.,” which includes “site-specific outdoor pieces designed to explore the issues of poverty, gentrification, community, and revitalization of the historic 14th St. corridor.” Chances are those artists—whose contributions range from “new media and interactive displays, to sculpture and live performance” have plenty to say about the Big G, both from the perspective of being starving artists who move into cheap neighborhoods thus forcing poor families out, and from the perspective of being kicked out once the neighborhoods’ property values have risen high enough to attract rich prospective homeowners and condo developers. The reception, which is followed by a tour of the project sites led by Laanstra, is at 7 p.m. Friday, June 15, at the Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. Free. (202) 667-7960; the outdoor pieces are on view to Saturday, July 28, at various venues along the 14th St. Corridor between P and V Sts. NW (see link for a list of sites). Free. (202) 639-1828.

Meat Market Gallery: If, upon reading the press release for Matt Ravenstahl’s “Works With an Initial Impulse”—which proclaims that the “work comes off on your hands”—your initial impulse is to bring a pair of gloves, don’t worry. The videos and sculptural works “exploring the depths behind surface interaction” on display won’t leave you feeling too dirty—provided you look but don’t touch. The reception runs from 6-8:30 p.m. Friday, June 15; the exhibition is on view from noon to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 3 p.m. Sundays, to Sunday, July 8, at Meat Market Gallery, 1636 17th St. NW. Free. (202) 328-6328.

Move into an old laundry building! In ever more clever ways to draw in those sassy downtowners, the new Yale Steam Laundry Condominiums going up at 4th Street and New York Avenue NW urge prospects to “Live Like an Icon.” (The graphic includes a va-va-voomy woman with a building on her skirt. She’s extra.) According to Webster’s, that means you could become “any of various stylized figures, as displayed on a microcomputer screen, representing available functions or resources.”

Sign me up!

And not only will you, sassy downtowners, represent available functions and resources (starting in the low 300Gs for a studio), according to an e-mail I just got from the Yale Laundry staff, you’ll also:

• be able to play “billiards” in a glass-enclosed room!
• be blocks away from a “New Starbucks”!
• have access to a “New Urban Safeway” (apparently Safeway’s jumping the gun on the nickname. What? They didn’t like “Soviet Safeway: Where nothing’s on the shelf and there’s always a line?”)
• lay claim to living in and/or near a historic building that was still a laundry until 1976!

All that and exposed brick will be yours, in the “fourth quarter of 2007.” Unless, of course, the Yalies don’t buy into that icon b.s. and the developers have turn to retail.

From today’s Washington Examiner:

Four vacant homes in the heart of Shaw, all owned by a controversial Baptist church, have been condemned by the D.C. government as a possible danger to the community. The D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, which posted the condemnation notices Wednesday, gave Shiloh Baptist Church 15 days to repair its properties at 1528, 1532, 1534 and 1536 Ninth St. NW.

If you saw our groundbreaking coverage of the matter a year and a half ago, you’ll know that Shiloh Baptist Church has taken a lot of heat from Shaw residents for refusing to fix up its numerous properties around the church building at 9th and P Streets NW. Finally, the city’s stepped in to force the issue.

Great story, Michael Neibauer—until the last graf. Are you seriously going to let Leroy Thorpe blame others for “dividing the community along racial lines in an effort to push people out”?

Sent out today on the Shepherd Park message board is a boast that its block party ain’t going to be no beer-sippin’, hot-dog-munchin’ affair. And, kids, you can probably forget about the moon bounce:

Shepherd Park friends,

Here is one more email inviting you to our inaugural block party this Sunday. It’s not your typical neighborhood block party with hamburgers and hot dogs.—we’re closing down an entire downtown street, having five restaurants participate (Jackie’s, Mayorga, Addis Ababa, Tiramisu and Moorenko’s), a platform stage (with performances by eight bands, poets, a fashion show), lots of activities for children (puppets, face painting, games), and dozens of arts, crafts and other items for sale.

What’s so wrong with hot dogs and hamburgers?