Monday, July 12, 2010

Coming Soon: The Temporium

What is the Temporium? It's temporary sort of retail incubator, and it's organizers hope it help highlight the local arts scene. It's a joint effort of the Green Door Advisors and the Pinkline Project, with an assist from the Office of Planning. A story on the Temporium appears in today's Washington Post. Here's a bit of info from their website:

DC’s best designers show their wares in this temporary store.

July 23 through August 15, 2010
Located in the former R.L. Christian Library at 13th and H Street, NE.

Hours:
Thursday: 6 to 10 PM
Fridays: 6 to 10 PM
Saturdays: 2 to 10 PM
Sundays: 12 to 5 PM

Grand Opening Festivities!

Friday, July 23
DJ Obeyah

Saturday, July 24
6PM Will Rast, DC’s premier groove keyboardist.
7PM Alex Vans, DC singer/songwriter/guitarist Alex
8-10PM DJ MikeBolo

9 comments:

Derek said...

This is great. I am looking forward to this.

JJ said...

I'm glad to see at least some retail starting to come to H St.

On a related note, I took some relatives to the Biergarten on Sunday and was very sad to see an Adams Morgan-type atmosphere surrounding Biergarten/HSCC/Dangerous Pies. Needless to say, my older relatives thought that the Biergarten was great but the clientele there that day left a lot to be desired (when we walked in there were two drunk guys out front getting into a near brawl -- they ended up yelling obscenities at each other as there friends pulled them down the block in opposite directions).

The intent of this post is not to criticize any of the new bars that have opened up (I think the Biergarten is fantastic) -- but I do think the community needs to start paying more attention to the kind of development we want on H St. (i.e., limiting the number of tavern licenses on the street) -- I would hate to see H St. become the new Adams Morgan. And from what I saw yesterday, I definitely got that vibe...

Tim said...

Perhaps it was due to the World Cup final? That's a lot to get rowdy about, in a lot of people's minds.

JJ said...

Tim,

Noted. This was well after the World Cup match (around 7:30ish). Granted, there may have been a higher chance of a rowdy crowd hanging around that day (even at 7:30) but this hasn't been the first time I've been there or noted a sort of Adams Morgan type feel on the block.

In my view, I like the mix we have now, but I can definitely see that if more and more bars open up rather than restaurants/retail, the mix is definitely going to get out of whack and before you know it were going to have muscle cars racing up and down the block along with more drunk dudes peeing and throwing up on everybody's lawn.

Anonymous said...

What exactly is "an Adams Morgan type feel?" How is it different from "a Penn Quarter," "Dupont Circle," or "Georgetown type feel?"

All of those neighborhoods have successful entertainment areas offering good restaurants, bars, theaters, coffee shops, stores, and entertainment. There are lots of people on the sidewalks, hanging out on street corners, and having a good time. H Street is lucky to be getting some finally and on some nights the sidewalks are even a little crowded.

That's a good thing for development. Other good restaurants will come, and retail will follow. That's what happened elsewhere.
Why wouldn't you want that for our community?

@HStreetDC said...

oops! The Washington Post got the name wrong! Not your fault, Inked!

It's actually the TEMPORIUM - a mix of "temporary" and "emporium" according to Philippa Hughes, the brain behind this temporary gathering of artists/designers.

Can't wait til they open! Hope some will look for permanent space on the street and stay with us.

inked said...

Thanks hstreetdc,
that's what I get for posting at 1am. And yeah, I had read the Post story just before doing so.

Anonymous said...

It's not a new idea. The same concept has been going in in Berlin for a few years. I am glad that this idea is being introduced here.

Anonymous said...

The "Adams Morgan feel" is the visibly drunk, fresh out of college /still pretending to be in college, aggressive and messy feel. I certainly don't want it on H st. Don't get me wrong, I'm no saint. I've been there. I'm just slightly past that and avoid Adams Morgan for that very reason. I was waiting outside BGH a week or so ago (my friend was paying her tab) and the amount of lushy girls in black dresses who were practically falling over was insane. Remember when people were afraid of H st? I guess it's good for business, and I do love the new establishments, but it's kind of hard to enjoy them when they're mobbed with people falling all over you.