February 9, 2006
Source Theatre Goes Dark for Good
I was intrigued to see workers in front of the Source Theatre on 14th St. NW over the weekend hanging a marquee sign for the opening of David Mamet's Boston Marriage on Feb. 17. For one thing, the Source Theatre Company has been basically closed for 2 years. For another, I had heard last month at a neighborhood association meeting that the building was likely being sold to the owners of Bedrock Billiards, who plan on turning the space into an automobile-themed bar. So what exactly is going on?
Well, answers abound today. Source Theatre's management finally announced this week that they have agreed to sell the property at 1835 14th St. NW to Bedrock Management Co., which will replace the theater with the Standard Bar & Grill, according to the Post. The CityPaper also has a story online today which digs into questions about Source's troubled financial situation -- apparently they're behind on their mortgage payments, and District officials are anxious to find out where, exactly, the nearly $1 million the city has invested in the company over the years, went.
Peppered throughout today's news also are comments from locals involved in the arts who lament the loss of creative space in the vibrant 14th St. corridor. What do you think about this? Does 14th St. really need another transportation-themed bar & grill? Or is it better at least to have the space being used on a regular basis instead of lying fallow?
Incidentally, the production of Boston Marriage in the Source Theatre space is being produced by Actors Theatre of Washington, and will run through Mar. 19. No word yet on when the sale will be closed and construction work will begin at the site.
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we could use a few more places to eat in the neighborhood! slim pickings...maybe they will stay open 24/hrs...!
It would be nice to have a place that doesn't suck though. Not to pre-judge, but all signs (owners of bedrock billiards, automobile themed) are indicating that on a scale of one to ten, this s@!t will be weak.
i think its kind of strange that the owners and operators of this "auto-themed" bar would want to put themselves squarely in the path of the other two "transportation"-themed bars on the same block ie saint-ex and bar pilar (a plane and a boat respectively). are they just trying to scrub off the popularity and the original ideas of the other two places, getting a piece of the action? -- blech! (then again, id really like to have saint ex back as a neighborhood bar rather than the meat market it can and has been for the past year. maybe the meat-heads will head over to the new place hehehe. id hate to see saint ex become a victim of its own success)
Losing the Source hurts very deeply, even though I've been preparing for its loss for a long time and there's no doubt that there's an object lesson to be learned here about keeping one's financial house in order. Nevertheless, DC is losing one of its richest institutions.
You guys realize that St. Ex and Bar Pilar are not so much transportation themed as they are literature/author themed, right? As in Antoine de St. Exupery and Ernest Hemingway?
a., all we're saying is that the Source Theater is a fine place and worth fighting for.
The comment was not meant towards dcist at all, but rather the commenters who took your attempt at adding wit to the article too seriously.
Awesome. Not only do we have the all the people from Arlington masquerading around the neighborhood as DC residents, but now we have one of their bars (Carpool, a shining Bedrock property) as well. How long before U street gets an irish pub? Ohhh...wait...nevermind.
So on what automotive author will the new bar be based? Kerouac? Steinbeck? Sinclair? Earnhardt Jr.?
Ian Fleming?
To be fair, it is my understanding that Bedrock Management is promoting their auto theme as an homage to the neighborhood -- 14th St. was an auto row for much of its history.
DClounger, please explain how the owner of Buffalo Billiards and Bedrock Billiards is an Arlington establishment?
I thought the auto tie-in was obvious; apparently not. Thanks for pointing it out dcist sommer.
Reid: re-read his post. Carpool is a (crappy) bar in Ballston. Ballston is a (lame) area of Arlington.
I, for one, welcome just about ANYTHING that isn't an overpriced furniture store or pawn shop to 14th st.
I know exactly what he thought he was saying, but since Carpool is only one over several bars owned by Bedrock Management (5 of which are in DC), I don't understand why he can single out Carpool and say that that makes Bedrock an Arlington establishment.
So Dclounger, how is it that Bedrock is an Arlington establishment?
While I think the Source's demise is sad, I have to say that Atomic and Bedrock are my two favorite pool halls in the city. Good beers (Dogfish head at Atomic) and great jukeboxes, plus board games and a great neighborhood bar feel. If a chain is going to move into the space, at least it's a good chain.
Reid, here's my secret decoder ring, so that you can decode my sarcastic comment (because, obviously, Here's A Hint's hint didn't help you out):
Carpool is in Arlington. Carpool is auto-themed. Carpool is run by Bedrock. Bedrock is will run the Standard. The Standard is auto-themed. The Standard is near 14th and U.
I know, it's difficult to parse through. Hey, I hope it's a cool place, but I'm not going to be naive and ignore the similarities and the obvious economies-of-scale that come into play when a mulit-location company opens a new location. Hopefully they'll look at the neighborhood and open up something that will play well. I'm just not going to hold my breath.
I understood you from the beginning I just wanted you explain the ridiculous point that somehow Bedrock, which has created a handful of good bars, each different except in the level of quality, would recreate the Carpool on 14th and that somehow it was tainted by its Arlington association.
I just wonder whether you realized that Arlington was next to DC when you moved here. Maybe there was a more hermetically sealed hip neighborhood in some other city better suited for you.
that would make a fabulous stripper bar
I'm not hip, and I dislike people not places, and primarily just people who aren't self-aware. So, on any given day, its a toss-up on whether I would dislike the people at Clarendon Grill, Rhino Bar, K Street, or the Red Room more. But I'll always dislike you, Reid. Now, I'm gonna need my decoder ring back, so you'll need someone else to explain my viewpoint to you.
But thanks for caring. Kisses.
"I dislike people not places"
Well I'm awfully flattered you dislike me for me, but you do an awful good job of mixing places and people when you write a phrase like "all the people from Arlington masquerading around the neighborhood as DC residents". How does someone masquerade as a DC resident anyway? Do they sneak over the Key Bridge and protest for voting rights? Storm the SW waterfront and send their kids to Wilson High? Or maybe they just hang around U St. and complain about all the people from Arlington masquerading around the neighborhood as DC residents.
How long before this auto-themed bar is selling $12 Belgian lambic ales and $22 free-range cruelty-free tofu dishes?
I don't get how someone on a blog comment board can dislike another person without meeting them? Even more to the point I really don't get attacking Reid, who might be the most thoughtful poster on this site. I have seen Reid take on complex issues while not attacking other posters. I have also seen him (I am guess Reid is male) defend others against the attacks made by *graps* DCist writers. He offers clarity and insight while always remaining civil. I wish others would as well.
Oy, can we try not to have every third thread devolve into pitched battles over the honor of the suburbs? The snide over-generalizations are annoying, sure, but the passionate and articulate refutations of those remarks are equally annoying.
Shouldn't we be talking about the Source, and what went wrong here? This was a company with good artistic cred and interesting programming, especially the big summer festival they did every year. They had the support of the city (that $1 million), a decent if not great space, and a location in a rapidly gentrifying, metro-accessible area. Was it the management? The board? Unfortunate play selection? The excessive competition in DC?
I know there's some theater folks involved with the site, and who comment here ... anyone willing to speculate on whether this was just "bad luck in a difficult time for arts groups" or whether there should be fingers pointed here. A decent new nightspot ... sure, that's better than another new furniture store, but it's not the Source Theater.
"...Or maybe they just hang around U St. and complain about all the people from Arlington masquerading around the neighborhood as DC residents."
That's totally what I do - "look at all these white people from arlington. damn! what is happening to this neighborhood."
- j o h n (causcasian who lives in courthouse)
We put in serious advocacy and homework, starting two years ago, to use that space 4 days a week for theater. We had the money, the financial controls, and the organizational structure and discipline to make it happen.
What's more, our conversion needs would have been effectively zero; we could have gone live in that space in about two week's notice with classes, productions, community programs, visiting teachers and groups from up and down the East Coast.
Instead, it will be gutted and turned into Carpool. With "gallery space" and a willingness to "work with local artists."
Such is life, I suppose. Though the Source Board's financial controls and review may not bear close examination, so we'll see if this is really theirs to sell...
I think the fundamental factor with Source is the economics: unless you're the Kennedy Center with huge endowments and premium pricing, theaters have a tough row to hoe in this town. The management issues were just the nails in the coffin.
Look at Metro Cafe. Nice neighborhood bar with interesting bands and dance nights and small theater shows. But not nice enough to compete with six-figure condos. Look at St. Ex. Nice neighborhood bar with cool dj nights and simple bar fare. Now it's such a poseur meat market, the owner had to buy another bar just to hide in. How long before Pilar goes the same route?
It's all well and good to make a neighborhood "vibrant" when vibrancy means "stuff you moved to the neighborhood for" (i.e., clubs, bars, theaters, restaurants, etc). What happens when the neighborhood evolves into something you no longer feel contributes to your quality of life?
It's called Misuse of Funds.
It's called Fraud.
When a government or corporation gives you a wealthy grant for a specific project, you can't just blow the money on whatever.
So when DC gives you over $10K to fix your roof, and you dont get it fixed, that money goes back to DC.
And all the other money that groups gave you for specific things - what did you really blow it on?
Get it, Source?
Its a shame that the Source is going to be sold but lets lay the blame for its closing and sale at the feet of the people who brought this about. The management of Source Theater. Some people in the theater community are crying about the evil capitalistic Bedrock Crop taking Source and destroying something good. Well, its not their fault if the management couldn't keep the theater open and decided to sell.
I also think that they are going to have to answer a lot of tough questions about what happened to money they were given.
Come out tonight to the blogspot.com/2006/03/saving-source-theatre.html">ANC-1B meeting at the True Reformer Building (122 U Street, NW), 7pm. Though it's not on the agenda, we are trying to get a group of people there showing their support for saving the Source (and bring it up during the public comments/questions).
TYPO: True Reformer is at 1200 U Street, NW.
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