October 15, 2008
Dr. Dremo's Demolition Begins
Arlington institution Dr. Dremo's closed its doors and auctioned off everything that wasn't nailed down back in January, but the building and its neighbors (the old Taco Bell, etc.) have stood empty since then, awaiting demolition to make way for a new condo development. Well George Whelan sent in these photos showing that demolition has finally begun. Most of the surrounding buildings are being taken down today, and one construction worker said he had been told they'd do the actual Dremo's building sometime next week. So, Dremo's fans, stroll by this week to take one long, last look.
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Oh man - I know some Arlingtonians who are in tears. And all to make way for a bunch of condos that won't sell and will have to be changed to apartments.
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I can't see the difference between those pics and the last time I was there.
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Mojotron... well played
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When I first moved back to the area in '96 and Dremo's was still the Bardo Rodeo, one of the first things anyone told me about the place was that it was going to be torn down soon. After it became Dremo's I guess I kind of thought the day that building finally got torn down would never come.
Wishing I Had a High Quality Microbrew to Weep In,
HR
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The Washington Psychotronic People got the funk outta there and headed over to The Arlington Cinema Drafthouse. Gonna miss you Doc. Dollars beers go a long way when you're broke.
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Is there a complete history of this place? Was it a sushi restaurant with plates that floated around on a river at some point? Or is that just something someone told me in a drunken haze.
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It used to be a car dealership.
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"Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good."
W.H. Auden
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This just in: when workers showed up to begin tearing the building down, the shell of Dremo's went into defense mode and the patio projectile vomited its rubble-contents onto the crew and its associated equipment in a last ditch effort to avoid oblivion.
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sadness.
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According to Random Construction Worker my roommate talked to at the site, the actual Dremo's building will be down sometime next week - guess Taco Bell's on the agenda first.
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Oops, didn't notice Sommer noted that. Anyway, I almost at this point want to see it torn down, as every time I walk by it now, I just get pissed that they couldn't have kept it open for longer instead of just having it sit there abandoned.
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I drove by there the other day and was more sad that the Taco Bell was gone.
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It is sad we couldn't have gotten one more Summer out of it (given that they waited until now to tear it down). I miss the wonderful selection of beers that was at Dremo's.
As to the Taco Bell, eh. It is interesting to note that this stretch (between Rosslyn and Courthouse) has (or will soon) lost 3 fast food places (Taco Bell, Burger King and (soon) McDonalds). Though if we can continue to replace them with places like Ray's Hellburger... Score.
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Gonna miss that big bathtub full of urine in the men's room. The one at the Heritage Foundation just isn't the same. Probably that asparagus smell.
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Looks like they finally cleaned the joint up!
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aah dremo's... the refuge for virginians too afraid to go into dc for weekend nightlife.
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And by "nightlife" you mean "getting stabbed."
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Not everyone gets stabbed in DC. You may get stoned or punched in the face by some ghetto rat kids more likely.