Location

The all-volunteer Dupont Circle Conservancy has been promoting preservation of the Dupont Circle Historic District since 1978. Past initiatives include gaining landmark status for the home and studio of African American artist Alma Thomas and raising funds for the restoration of the sculptures on the “Buffalo Bridge” that connects Dupont Circle to Georgetown. During this walk we’ll look at sites that have been on the Conservancy’s more recent preservation radar: signage along a Connecticut Avenue commercial strip, a specialty shop entrance that likely once opened into a courtyard, the complete exterior restoration of a formerly derelict property (the Conservancy likened the property owner to a slum lord), a recent demolition that appears to be morphing into a project whereby only the façade of the former structure will be saved, and a former automobile showroom that later became a storefront church that was adapted for the new Room and Board store on 14th Street, NW. Along the way, we’ll point out the colorful “Art on Call” police and fire call boxes (yet another example of the Dupont Conservancy’s work) and other landmarks that make neighborhood unique.

Presented in conjunction with Preservation Month.

Led by Carolyn Crouch with special guest Rick Busch, former Dupont Conservancy board member.