The notion of the Washington Humane Society acquiring the former Exxon site at 11th and M SE was in the news back in February, and I can now report that the land deal has been completed, thanks to a $5 million grant from the city.

In a WaPo piece about DC budget wranglings, Mike DeBonis dropped this little tidbit:

Here's a Fox 5 video from Thursday morning about the new National Capital Area Spay and Neuter Clinic at 1001 L Street, with interviews with some of the staff and lots of views of the interior. (And even a shot out the window at the park across the street.) UPDATE: Oops, missed this. Local radio station WAMU did a report on the center this morning.

Today is the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new National Capital Area Spay and Neuter Center at 10th and L Streets, SE, launched by the Washington Humane Society and Alley Cat Allies to provide high-volume, lost-cost spay/neuter services for the critters of the DC metro area. I won't be able to be there, alas, but perhaps we'll get dispatches from other media outlets that have a slightly larger staff.

My Ballpark and Beyond column in today's District Extra of the Post covers the recent departure of AnA Towing to make way for DRI's Square 696 development; the raze permits for the old Capper Seniors complex and the buildings just north of the stadium along First and N streets; and the planned opening in September of the new Spay and Neuter Center at 1001 L Street. (I can't believe I made it through a column without a single piece about parking!)

From a Washington Humane Society press release, word arrives that the National Capital Area Spay and Neuter Center currently under construction at 1001 L Street, SE, will be opening in September, and that a ribbon-cutting ceremony has been scheduled for Oct. 4 at 11 am. Quoting: "The new facility will address the desperate need for low-cost spay/neuter of domestic animals in our region with a goal of providing sterilization surgery on up to 75 animals every day, five days a week." The center will also be part of "CatNiPP, the Cat Neighborhood Partnership Program, by sterilizing stray and feral cats to humanely reduce the area's outdoor cat population through Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)," a program which aims to "safely trap feral cats, spay or neuter, vaccinate and 'eartip' them, and return the healthy cats to their outdoor homes." Shelters from around the region will transport animals to the facility.

In an Examiner article today about the Washington Humane Society's plan to consolidate operations in a single building in Northeast, it was mentioned that the planned Spay/Neuter Clinic under construction at 10th and L SE is now going to open in September; I guess the June move-in date announced back in April arrived a little too quickly. For more on the plans, I'll quote again from the society's Spring 2007 newsletter: "As if being the largest Spay/Neuter Clinic in the Metropolitan area was not already enough, in June 2007, the Washington Humane Society will unveil the first ever low-cost Regional Spay/Neuter Center, created specifically to service the entire DC metropolitan area. The new facility will be named the National Capital Area Spay and Neuter Surgical Center. The current low-cost Spay/Neuter Clinic is located on Georgia Avenue in Northwest and will move to Capitol Hill, 1001 L Street, SE to a facility that is nearly four times the size of the current location. [...] The new National Capital Area Spay and Neuter Surgical Center will provide an average of fifty sterilization surgeries on both dogs and cats every day, five days a week."

From the Spring 2007 newsletter of the Washington Humane Society (hat tip to reader Chuck): "As if being the largest Spay/Neuter Clinic in the Metropolitan area was not already enough, in June 2007, the Washington Humane Society will unveil the first ever low-cost Regional Spay/Neuter Center, created specifically to service the entire DC metropolitan area. The new facility will be named the National Capital Area Spay and Neuter Surgical Center. The current low-cost Spay/Neuter Clinic is located on Georgia Avenue in Northwest and will move to Capitol Hill, 1001 L Street, SE to a facility that is nearly four times the size of the current location. [...] The new National Capital Area Spay and Neuter Surgical Center will provide an average of fifty sterilization surgeries on both dogs and cats every day, five days a week." This is the building at the corner of 10th and L that has been being rehabilitated over the past few months. No word on whether Bob Barker will be making appearances in the Hood. UPDATE: Here's the building at 1001 L Street--definitely looks like it's getting prepped for occupants.

A number of correspondents have written in to alert me to work being done on a multi-unit building at 10th and L (or is it 10th and Potomac?). The interior's been gutted, and they appear to be renovating the entire building. I have no information on this--the building hasn't sold recently, nor (ahem) is there any building permit filed with the city. So I know nothing, but I appreciate the alerts.