Anacostia Arts Center Expected to Open May 1
Last year, Anacostia residents made one thing very clear to ARCH Development Corporation: They did not want another social service office to open on Good Hope Road SE.
When the nonprofit organization announced in June that it planned to rent the space that formerly housed its training center at 1231 Good Hope Road SE, it attracted interest from social service agencies, charter schools, and vocational programs. “But the community basically wanted to see something else there,” says the nonprofit’s CEO, Duane Gautier. In meetings between ARCH and area residents, it became clear that locals were fed up with social services sucking up space on the commercial strip—especially after last year’s blowup surrounding Calvary Women’s Services’ deeply controversial entrée into the neighborhood.