Monday, October 12, 2015

Surprise - Artisphere to Become a Daycare Center


Hey, Yupette,

I attended the last Planning Commission meeting where Bluemont residents were infuriated about the lack of transparency by County Government concerning a redevelopment on Glebe Road. County Board candidate Audrey Clement attended the meeting and spoke forcefully for much greater transparency by the County Board.

Well, how about this for an encore? The Artisphere is going to be a daycare center. Yes, unannounced by anyone in County Government and the media and placed on the Consent Agenda for Saturday's County Board meeting (Item 2). You can go to arlingtonva.us and read for yourself.

According to the Staff Report the property at 1401 Wilson Blvd is going to be redeveloped and the Rosslyn Children's Center will move to the Artisphere at 1101 Wilson Blvd. The County will also lease a small space it owns for a child's play area.

What is it about the local media (e.g., Sun Gazette) ignoring important local news while deluging us with all sorts of trivia?

Thanks for your blog.

Mark, 22201

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Scott McCaffrey ranted about the AY blog today. I couldn't read what he wrote because I refuse to pay for multiple screen freezes and dozens of cookies drastically slowing my laptop that Inside Nova causes. Maybe he'll read this and call someone in the County Manager's office to write a press release (County Government is working today) that Scott will publish.

Anonymous said...

County Board is supposed to be voting on a lease termination for the Artisphere this Saturday. Maintenance and upkeep cost $1 million per year. Does the daycare group have $1 million / year, or $33,333.33 per month to pay for the building's basics?

Anonymous said...

Nothing on the County's PR site about this as of 1:00 PM today.

Anonymous said...

Gee, I wonder if someone will pull this Consent Agenda item this Saturday so it can be discussed at the CB carryover meeting?

Anonymous said...

Appeared on ArlNow but only regarding the CB vote to terminate the building lease.

L O L said...

Apparently, no one who posts news to ArlNow or regularly comments on ArlNow actually read the staff report for consent agenda item 2.

Anonymous said...

Is this the beginning of a taxpayer-funded subsidy program to daycare providers?

Anonymous said...

Yo, if it works for the Signature Theater, why not?

Anonymous said...

Audrey Clement put a press release on her campaign website today promosing way more County Board transparency if she's elected to County Board.

Anonymous said...

If daycare is going to be taxpayer subsidized like the performing arts Arlington taxpayers should be informed and told how much it's going to cost.

Anonymous said...

County is making a big deal about leasing a small parcel for a tot lot. No financials about the Artisphere itself.

Anonymous said...

Where is that independent internal auditor?

Unknown said...

First of all, it's the Rosslyn Childrens Center, not the "Arlington Childrens Center". Secondly, if you'd read the consent agenda backup documents, you'd see that RCC was originally located in this building but moved so the County could lease to the Newseum. RCC is a phenomenal facility in a county that is sorely lacking in daycare centers -- the waitlist is ridiculous, but totally worth it. My child was there for 5 years at the 1401 wilson site. Better to use part of the facility for things that the County needs.

Anonymous said...

A. It's "Rosslyn Childrens Center", not "Arlington Childrens Center."
B. It was originally in that space from 1991-1993 until they left so the Newseum could come in.
C. There are very few quality daycare centers in Arlington -- this is one of the best, and has long waitlists because it's so good. My child went there for 5 years. They charges $1890 a month for the infant room - no subsidies going on there. It is a non-profit though and one of the few daycare centers that pays their workers a decent wage.
D. RCC has been looking for other space in Arlington since at least 2008 and couldn't find anything in the Rosslyn area that worked -- they came close a few times but were ultimately unsuccessful in various negotiations.

Anonymous said...

I called the County Manager's Office about this and after 3 attempts was told there is no fiscal impact to the County.

Why didn't County Staff just put a fiscal impact statement in their staff report?

Check out Agenda Item 18, which is the termination of the lease agreement for the Artisphere.

Anonymous said...

I don't blame anyone for bringing this up after the extravagances County Board has put on the Consent Agenda.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why the County is paying any lease termination costs, given how much money County put into the Artisphere.

Anonymous said...

So, will a well-heeled performing arts group lease the Artisphere?

Anonymous said...

Extravagance? Like $350,000 for an artist to decorate a fence at the wastewater treatment plant?

Anonymous said...

County will pay off the Artisphere lease over the next 8 months at $59,000 per month?

Anonymous said...

Why is the County paying anything to the landlord, given the improvements the County made to the space it leased?

Unknown said...

nice blog



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