To the Editor:
Ssshhhh … what’s that sound? It appears to be the verdict on “all the news that’s fit to print” about the formerly affordable/workforce housing complex formerly known as Hunting Towers, now the Bridgeyard – Old Town.
Even the extraordinary April 2014 Administrative Order from the Environmental Protection Agency failed to elicit the interest of the Gazette. Hundreds of residents and workers being exposed to levels of asbestos sufficiently high to take that measure apparently didn’t lift it out of the “dog bites man” category.
But perhaps the Gazette is merely taking its lead from the local elected leadership. No public comments there either on the EPA action, much less resident outreach, either from the city leaders or its state delegation.
So really, it is hardly surprising that the demise of the place as a long-time source of 530 affordable and workforce housing under the most miserable, de-humanizing conditions imaginable for the residents — culminating in the eviction of all for the final phase of renovations — has occurred with virtually no public comment from anybody in a position of power and influence either.
Such was not always the case with the place — the simplest internet searches will yield no end of reading material over the last 15 years.
Talking of course not being the same as actually doing something.
Former Mayor Kerry Donley failed to capitalize on a golden opportunity to include the Towers and Hunting Terrace in the settlement he negotiated with VDOT over the Wilson Bridge Project. That project involved the outright demolition of over 300 affordable units there, already a shrinking commodity in the city — surely a viable wedge to include the remainder in the settlement, perhaps eliciting a guarantee from VDOT to work with a large non-profit housing organization to preserve the rest as such.
Then, as vice-mayor, Mr. Donley was quoted in an April 11, 2012 Washington Post article saying “We know what the problem is. The real question is, what are we going to do about it?”
So much for “knowing how to get things done.”
Current Mayor Bill Euille has had little to say publicly about the situation either — actually, make that “nothing” since soon after the sale was consummated. That despite the tidal wave of resident complaints about the way Laramar has managed its affairs to various city departments from Housing to Code, including the asbestos concerns — all to no avail before the EPA acted — all brought to his attention as well.
But such is the nature of political discourse in the city these days, hardly limited to the “Bridgeyard,” as the city develops and gentrifies its way to an economically segregated population and traffic gridlock that can only be imagined.
Include the waterfront — the hotel design debate, while important, seems secondary to me. All the talk about “historic” — what does that amount to? What is being proposed there to evoke the Port City’s role as a leading port in the early years of the country, with all the stories to be told? History tourism also being a source of increased city revenue?
Just make that boutique hotels. And a skating rink?
So perhaps “ssshhh” on the Bridgeyard is understandable. One searches in vain in the current mayoral race for substantial debate on anything, with only Vice Mayor Allison Silberberg even questioning the general direction things are going. From my new home at a distance — having chosen to opt out of Alexandria and the Old Dominion altogether pursuant to my own eviction from Hunting Towers after 18 years — here’s hoping a real vision worthy of the city will emerge from somewhere.
Jim Mercury