| Q: |
We heard from many in the Colony Hill neighborhood that St. Patrick’s has already shown plans for the development of 1801 Foxhall Road. Is this true, and if so, how far along are you in the process? |
| A: |
St. Patrick's Episcopal Day School would like to discuss and explain the timeline of how events have unfolded over the past several weeks. In early June St. Patrick’s presented our basic conceptual plan for 1801 Foxhall Road to the D.C. Office of Planning to obtain comments from that entity. On the same day as the meeting the Friends of St. Patrick’s (FOSP) began contacting the Colony Hill neighbors and members of the ANC 3D to share the conceptual plan. |
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| Q: |
I thought St. Patrick’s hasn’t made an official decision to actually build a high school or middle school on the property. Or have they? |
| A: |
St. Patrick’s has not made an official decision to create a high school or to move its Grades 7 and 8 program, now located on MacArthur Blvd, to 1801 Foxhall Road. The FOSP, the entity of parents who purchased the property back in April, 2004, stated that they would take significant time developing a strategic plan for ultimate use of the land taking into consideration the needs of the school, environmental impacts, and neighbors’ concerns regarding this property. |
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| Q: |
Remind me again, who are the Friends of St. Patrick’s? |
| A: |
FOSP comprises about ten Day School families who organized to purchase the 1801 Foxhall Road property from the Casey Mansion Foundation, with the intention of donating a portion of the land to the Day School. The managing members of the group are current and immediate past chairs of the Day School Board of Trustees. |
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| Q: |
Why talk to the neighbors now? |
| A: |
FOSP wanted to present the plan to the D.C. Office of Planning, before it presented the plan to anyone else. St. Patrick’s felt it was important to share its initial plans with the community immediately following. That’s exactly what occurred. Directly following that meeting, 40 small group meetings were offered to Colony Hill residents and other interested parties in early June 2005. Just as we need the input and guidance of the Office of Planning, so too do we need the input and guidance of these individuals. |
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| Q: |
How are those meetings going? |
| A: |
St. Patrick's Episcopal Day School remains committed as ever in our efforts to engage the community regarding our plans for 1801 Foxhall Road. We consider the Colony Hill neighbors among our top priorities when it comes to communications. At this point, we’ve conducted dozens of meetings with Colony Hill neighbors and local leaders. During these small-group meetings we have obtained real, individual feedback on this set of plans. |
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| Q: |
Who are you working with to develop the plans? |
| A: |
Since March of 2004, a team of professionals has been steadily working on examining varying concepts for the property. Ankie Barnes, of the local architecture firm Barnes Vanze was brought on as lead architect of the project. For many months, Ankie has been working in close contact with Sasaki Associates, a national architecture and land planning firm located in Watertown, Massachusetts, with a particular expertise in academic campuses. Sasaki assigned two experienced principals to the project: One is a former school head with extensive school planning experience; the other works nationally on environmental projects with challenging topography bordering on national parkland, similar to the Foxhall property. Other consultants on the property have included for traffic issues: Wells and Associates; tree consultants: Pitchford Associates; environmental consultant: EDAW Inc.; and a land use attorney: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP. The team also includes Head of School Peter Barrett, Assistant Head of School for Finance and Operations Terri Armstrong, and Head of Upper School Henry Smyth. |
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| Q: |
What exactly are you showing people in these meetings? |
| A: |
At this point in time we are sharing with folks what we’re calling a conceptual model. This model was developed by necessity as part of the exploratory stage the FOSP committed to upon purchasing the land. Included in this model are buildings for a middle school and a high school, a gymnasium, and a theater, all clustered around a traditional quadrangle-style design plan. A full size playing field and underground parking are also included. |
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| Q: |
You mention a middle school. Does that mean you’ll sell the existing middle school on MacArthur Boulevard? |
| A: |
For now, we are committed to our MacArthur Campus and look forward to another successful year with our Grades 7 and 8 students continuing to enjoy what has become a wonderful program at that location. In all likelihood, our Grades 7 and 8 program will continue for some time on the MacArthur Campus, given any reasonable timeline for zoning approval, fund-raising, design, and construction. It is too early in the process to know what our plans are for the MacArthur Campus. As stated, the conceptual plans for 1801 Foxhall Road are still in the approval process. |
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| Q: |
Back to Foxhall Road. Will you use the entire 17 acres? I’ve heard you’ll be selling almost half of it to a developer. |
| A: |
The initial conceptual plans as they exist today would include about 9 acres for the creation of a middle school and high school on the property, plus some land that will be dedicated as green space. The plan we are proposing leaves approximately 8 acres which the Friends of St. Patrick’s plans to sell for single- family residential development, consistent with the existing zoning on the site. We have selected a first-rate development partner, Elm Street Development. Together, we have mapped out an initial prototype of how the Foxhall property may look with the proposed school and residential components. |
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| Q: |
Do you anticipate another challenge with the neighbors on this project? The Current reported on much of the input from neighbors and ANC members regarding your MacArthur Campus. While you ultimately received approval, you did have quite the zoning battle. |
| A: |
St. Patrick's believes our prior experience of working with neighborhood groups and our ANC has allowed us to enter this process in a very productive manner. We are sensitive to neighborhood concerns and remain committed to addressing them. We believe that we have been outstanding neighbors at our MacArthur Campus.
The conceptual model we have produced and shared with neighbors has allowed us to conduct these important conversations. We began in June 2005 to share these plans with neighbors and key stakeholders in the surrounding Foxhall area, have already met with a significant number of them, and will continue to do so, so that anyone with an interest or stake in the future of the property can meet the principals involved in the property’s development and see the plans, models and variations we have considered. |
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