As if Dupont Circle were not one of the most beautiful and active neighborhoods in the city, there might be new changes coming to the community. There i is a move afoot in DC to reuse the tunnels of the long abandoned Trolley Station beneath Dupont Circle. The office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) is seeking community input and preferences for use of these two tunnels which ran under Dupont Circle and served as a station for the DC trolley cars until 1963. The Deputy Mayor's Office is hoping that they will receive some creative submissions from groups wishing to lease the space from the District and reclaim the Dupont underground. The underground space was expensively renovated with a tacky streetcar theme in the early 199os, but the effort failed since Dupont Circle already had lots of great restaurants above ground without access in a poorly ventilated tunnel.
The Arts Coalition for Dupont Underground, spearheaded by architect Julian Hunt and the Washington Project for the Arts, along with several other arts groups and galleries in the area, is proposing a new gallery space below Dupont along the P Street near many existing above-ground galleries.
The Deputy Mayor's Office is seeking proposals for a lease of the space, but no land disposition. Though there are no plans to bring a streetcar to Dupont in the near future (i.e. the 20 years), an existing tunnel for a Connecticut or Massachusetts Avenue line would be a costly thing to give away, a fact the Deputy Mayor's Office no doubt will keep in mind.
If you are interested in buying or selling property around Dupont Circle, you should definately give Lise Howe, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, a call at 240-401-5577 or email Lise@lisehowe.com. As a nearly native Washingtonian, Lise uses her knowledge of the city and her legal background to make sure that her buyers and sellers have a smooth real estate transaction.
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