Neighborhood Watch: In Takoma, Will the Last Theater of Ward 4 Survive?

The Issue: The owner of the Takoma Theatre is planning a five-story apartment building for the historic spot. The theater has occupied the corner of Fourth and Butternut Streets NW since 1923; Milton McGinty bought the building in 1983. But the low-density neighborhood of Takoma has not been kind to a privately owned arts building that puts on plays, and McGinty wants to head to a greener pasture—real estate. In 2007, he petitioned to turn the theater into an office building, catalyzing the formation of Takoma Theatre Conservancy, a nonprofit that wants to purchase the property; he was ultimately denied by the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB). But now McGinty proposes razing the theater and replacing it with an apartment building—with a tiny theater on the ground floor. With the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) and the Conservancy up in arms, will HPRB still pull an Atropos? Read More "Neighborhood Watch: In Takoma, Will the Last Theater of Ward 4 Survive?" »