The fountain water flowed as District officials gathered this morning to formally dedicate the completion of the first phase of the new Columbia Heights Plaza, located at the intersection of 14th Street, Park Road and Kenyon Street NW.
The plaza’s artistic touches, including the “Resonance” fountain in the center of the public square, were designed by artist Jann Rosen-Queralt, incorporating the theme of textile designs from cultures that are heavily represented in the Columbia Heights neighborhood.
“This was just a mess of rock and dirt, but now it’s one of the best plazas anywhere,” D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty told the crowd.
The completion of the plaza is a welcome respite for Columbia Heights residents, who have seemingly dealt with construction along this corridor for the better part of a decade. Fenty, Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham and DDOT director Gabe Klein all commented on how dramatically this part of Columbia Heights has changed over the last several years, with massive retail and luxury condo developments going in where dark, forbidding empty lots used to be.
Apart from the plaza, the first phase of the Columbia Heights Public Realm Project has also included sidewalk and road work on Park Road between 14th and 16th Streets NW. The second phase of the project, which has already begun and is expected to be completed in spring of 2010, includes sidewalk work along 14th Street south of Kenyon, more road work on 14th between Columbia Road and Newton Street, and the reconstruction of Irving Street between 14th and 16th Streets NW.
The elephant in the plaza this morning was the ongoing FBI investigation of Ted Loza, the chief of staff to Graham. Loza was arrested last week on bribery charges, and this morning WUSA9 reported that Graham was also a target of the investigation. When asked about the allegations, Graham said he still needed to read the WUSA9 story before he could comment.
Video of the “Resonance” fountain in action is below — it’s low quality, but you can at least get an idea of how it runs when it’s turned on.
