Eastern Market Seeks Input on Street Design

D.C. workers laid the fancy brick designs in the sun at Eastern Market like three gigantic fabric swaths, giving passersby a chance to help choose the new look of the historic market's streets and sidewalks.

But there was a slight problem with that approach Sunday, on a picturesque afternoon perfect for viewing. Hardly anyone appeared to notice the designs as they stepped over and around them at North Carolina Avenue and Seventh Street SE, jabbering with friends and shopping for paintings, jewelry, ponchos, handkerchiefs and other items.

"A few people notice, but not a whole lot," said Ginny Lowery, who sells photos with her husband at the All Around Us kiosk. She sat in a chair on the "molded red brick" design. There were no signs pointing the designs out or announcing that people could participate in the decision. "Some kids about 12 or 13 years old walked by and said, 'What, are they selling bricks now?' " Lowery said.

The city is trying to sell the public on a new Eastern Market. The old one was gutted by fire in April 2007 and is undergoing a major renovation projected to be finished next year. D.C. Department of Transportation workers have made surgical cuts in the asphalt road, preparing it for removal.

In its place could go one of the two designs: cobblestone or Holland paver. Molded red brick was the only option provided for the sidewalk. New landscaping, manhole covers, gutters and other improvements will follow, officials said.

Passersby can influence the decision of the street design by contacting Mary Wright, a commissioner for the Advisory Neighborhood Commission for the market area, or Abdullahi Mohamed, the project engineer for the Department of Transportation, at abdullahi.mohamed@dc.gov.

Scott Hunt of the District said Wright and Mohamed can expect a comment from him. "That's one of the reasons I came by," said Hunt, who learned about the brick display from an e-mail.

After eyeing the designs with two fingers on his chin, he said he preferred the cobblestone pattern. "It's more organic," said Hunt, a law office manager. "It looks less manufactured. It looks like a traditional cobblestone street."

But his friend and neighbor Renee Wegrzyn wasn't so sure. Wegrzyn has seen cobblestones buckle over tree roots. As a jogger, she said the stuff is dangerous. She didn't want to turn an ankle. And for parents pushing strollers, cobblestones can be a nightmare.

"I love that we have brick sidewalks, but there needs to be a bigger effort toward their maintenance," Wegrzyn said.

From there, Hunt and Wegrzyn went back and forth.

She, he said, might have to suffer for art. Cobblestones' lumpiness "is part of the charm," he said. Wegrzyn gave the stone a long look. "For the reasons you like it," she pleasantly said to Hunt, "I don't like it." In her opinion, the Holland paver was more sleek, compressed and ideal.

On Sunday, at least, Wegrzyn was in the minority. Three people at different times walked past the patterns and pointed to the cobblestone design without stopping. "I like that one," one said. "I think I'd go with that one," another said.

Lowery's husband, Dale, took a moment from tending to customers at his kiosk and stood next to his wife. Both like the cobblestone design for the way it transports them back in time -- say, to old England. Dale Lowery considered Wegrzyn's concern about the bumpy path for the joggers and the strollers.

"That's good," he said. "You don't want strollers in the middle of the street." But the streets are blocked off on Saturdays and Sundays, allowing pedestrians to amble up to vendors like himself. "Well, maybe on the weekend," he said.