Star Achievements!

Release Date: Friday, November 7th 2008

Downtown DC BID 2008 Momentum Awards

Each year the Downtown DC Business Improvement District celebrates the best of Downtown DC at its Annual Momentum Awards event.

Congratulations to the nine awardees that helped to create a remarkable urban experience in Downtown in 2008.

“This year’s Momentum honorees are shining examples of the ingenuity, energy and vision that have helped catapult our Downtown to national and international prominence,” said Richard Bradley, executive director of the Downtown BID. “Their accomplishments have raised the bar for delivering transformative experiences that make Downtown vibrant, inviting and smart.”

The awardees represent a cross section of individuals and organizations in the public and private sectors. They are:

Downtown Citizen – Charles Docter
Charles Docter is a longtime Downtown resident and housing advocate who has served as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for ANC 6C 09 since 2003. A tireless community activist, he has played a huge role in supporting Downtown’s transformation and has served as a member of the Downtown BID Board of Directors for 10 years. Docter, a retired business bankruptcy reorganization attorney who worked in DC, Maryland and Virginia for 46 years, formerly served as chairman of the Downtown Housing Now Committee and as a Board member of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. He also was vice president and a Board member of the Market Square West Condominium Association at 801 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Downtown Experience – National Aquarium
Facing closure in 2004 due to dated exhibits, unsustainable animal care and declining visitor traffic, the National Aquarium, which has served visitors since 1931 from the Department of Commerce building, has undergone an “extreme makeover” and has re-established itself as a first rate attraction among the many tourist treasures of our nation’s capital. Thanks to a generous grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a new partnership with the National Aquarium in Baltimore, the DC Aquarium completed a five-year renovation effort to improve habitat conditions, animal care, the facility’s appearance and educational programming.

Downtown Partnership – DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs
As part of a partnership with the Downtown BID, other District agencies and the vending community, the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) has initiated a pilot demonstration project to enhance vending in Downtown and offer consumers more options. The cluster of three food vendors (On The Fly, DC Central Kitchen’s Capital Carts and Haalcart LLC’s Delle & Campbell’s Halal Luncheonette) located at 8th and H Streets NW, is named “The Lunch Bunch” and offers Downtown workers, residents and visitors a range of unique, convenient and eco-friendly lunchtime offerings.

Downtown Program – District Department of Transportation
The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and Clear Channel Outdoor collaborated to bring SmartBike DC to the city in August 2008, providing an alternative transportation network for the city’s workers, residents and visitors. The bike-sharing program, the nation’s first high-tech venture of this sort, offers bikes at four Downtown locations.

Downtown Detail – Macy’s
Since Macy’s arrival in Downtown DC in 2006, it has made a tremendous impact on the area, restoring nostalgia of Downtown’s past history as the city’s retail hub by presenting contemporary and compelling window displays, which have not only become a hallmark of Downtown’s transformation, but also a destination for workers, residents and visitors.

Public Sector – DC Department of Human Services
The DC Department of Human Services partners with the Downtown BID and others to plan and implement a broad range of homeless social services. This year, using the Housing First model and working with the BID’s Downtown Homeless Services Team, DHS has helped more than 350 homeless persons in downtown move into permanent supportive housing. Housing First is an innovative approach that moves the chronically homeless from the streets and shelters to housing, providing comprehensive services to address the issues that first contributed to their plight. The approach has had national success and is now working in the city and in downtown, where very few homeless persons who are placed in housing return. By the end of this fiscal year, more than 1,000 chronically homeless individuals and families will be placed in housing, with a substantial number coming from Downtown DC.

Private Sector – Pew Charitable Trusts
Pew Charitable Trusts, a major nonprofit charitable organization based in Philadelphia, purchased the 10-story building at 901 E Street for $155 million in February 2008 to create a “Nonprofit Village,” where 90% of the space will be leased to nonprofit groups at 10% to 15% below market rates. Comparable commercial space in the area ranges from the mid-$50s to the mid-$60s per square foot. In addition, the building houses Pew’s Washington staff, which has grown from 10 to 150 in eight years and will double to 300 by 2011. Pew is currently renovating the building to meet LEED certification.

Landmark Development Project – Newseum
The Newseum, dedicated to free press and free speech, opened on Pennsylvania Avenue and 6th Street in April and instantly became a monumental tour de force. From the street, passersby can peer through the humongous, seven-story steel-and-glass building and glimpse the museum’s state-of-the-art offerings and activities, peruse the outdoor display of more than 50 front pages of newspapers from across the US or marvel at the 74-foot-high vertical marble panel etched with First Amendment text—activities that create vibrancy and excitement Downtown. The 250,000-square-foot interactive museum, with its galleries, theaters, broadcast studios and three-level Wolfgang Puck restaurant exudes chic and offers something for everyone to explore and share. The Newseum is a welcome and bold presence on “America’s Main Street.”

Landmark Development Project – Harman Center for the Arts
The elegant Harman Center is a premiere destination for beautiful and inspiring dance, music and theater. The $89 million project, with its spectacular three-level glass façade, allows the Shakespeare Theatre Company to offer a larger repertory and provides a much-needed venue for notable performance arts companies. Since opening in October 2007, the Harman Center, comprised of the new 775-seat Sidney Harman Hall at 6th and F Streets and the existing 450-seat Lansburgh Theatre at 7th and E Streets, has added to the cultural experience in Downtown and engaged diverse audiences, thereby making Downtown inclusive of all people.

Momentum awards go to people and projects that halp make Downtown DC vibrant, inviting and smart by:

1. making a positive contribution to a program or project Downtown by applying political, financial, corporate or individual commitment to assist in revitalization
2. complementing the work of the Downtown BID or DC government
3. serving as a magnet to attract people to Downtown or having had major impact upon Downtown by improving the environment or enhancing its economic, cultural, social or physical well being.

All projects, programs or individual activities must have occurred in or had an impact in the given calendar year.