Photo by Mika Altskan, courtesy Dupont Underground

In late January, word hit the street that the District would be sending out a request for proposals “within a month” for the redevelopment of the abandoned trolley station below Dupont Circle commonly known as the Dupont Underground. One concept for the space that seemed to spark a modicum of interest was a kind of art-driven exhibition space. Here’s a video with a site tour.

Better late than never, the RFP was issued on April 1, and now the coalition behind the Dupont Underground concept has begun fund-raising and education efforts, including an event at the Bethesda Row Bang + Olufson on May 14. The group is hoping to raise $50,000 by June 1. Responses to the RFP are due by June 3.

Anyone interested in supporting these efforts or getting more information can go to the Dupont Underground site or find them on Facebook.

Other ideas have included some kind of bike sharing/parking station, a strip club, a book store or an aquarium. The Connecticut Avenue corridor is already full of floundering fast-food driven food courts, so it is not hard to imagine why the previous iteration failed. The last thing Dupont needs is another Cosi or Chipotle.