In a tough blow to the already beleaguered H Street corridor, the Board of Directors of the H Street Main Street program have cancelled the first annual H Street Arts and Humanities festival, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 9. In a release to the Voice of the Hill, spokesman Richard Layman states that the festival has been cancelled because
The board was uncomfortable with the amount of money raised thus far, as well as the possibility of significant fees to be assessed by the police department with regard to services if provided by the Special Operations Division
Plans are underway for other events on H Street, including Art-O-Matic, rumored to be coming to the old site of the Capitol Children’s Museum later this fall.
H Street NE has been part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Main Street Program since 2002. Once one of D.C.’s busiest commercial areas, the corridor was decimated by the riots of 1968. Unlike the rapidly gentrifying U Street corridor, developing H Street has been a challenge, though new ventures such as Sanctuary, the Atlas Performing Arts Center, and Phish Tea Café are taking small steps to revitalize the area.
