* 909 HALF: The Project Of Which Its Developers Don't Speak has apparently topped out, according to the architects, who I hope won't now be canned for daring to publicly refer to the 380-unit apartment building under construction at Half and I. They also posted a color version of the one rendering we've seen, showing the view up Half Street from south of K. There had been an additional post from the architects saying 909 Half would be opening in December, but that's now gone, probably because getting to completion seven months from now would be, shall we say, optimistic.

* NEW WEB SITES: Actual web sites are now up for both F1rst and ORE 82. (The former had just a placeholder and the latter's URL didn't actually work a few weeks ago when the fence signage went up.)

* JOY EVANS: ANC 6D Commissioner Meredith Fascett has an update on last week's meeting on Joy Evans Park, with a deadline of today (oops) for any comments you might have.

And, a few meetings this week to mention:

* COFFEE WITH CHUCK: The Virginia Avenue Tunnel project has hit the one-year mark this month (only 30 more months to go!). The monthly Coffee with Chuck meeting is on Wednesday, May 18, from 8 to 9 am at the CSX Community Office trailer at 861 New Jersey Ave., SE. RSVP here if you plan to attend.

* PUBLIC SAFETY: The monthly meeting of PSA 106 is Wednesday, May 18 at 7 pm at 200 I St. SE. MPD holds these meetings to address any public safety-related questions and concerns from the neighborhood.

* BIKE TO WORK: I'm too scared to look at the weather forecast, but Friday, May 20 is Bike to Work Day, and once again Canal Park is one of the pit stops.

The park's stewardship is a typical DC mishmash, with the land owned by the National Park Service and management handled by DC's Department of Parks and Recreation, but with a memorandum of understanding now in place to allow DC Public Schools to use a portion of the land for "recreation and educational space" for Van Ness.

An initial notion of how the park space could be laid out is above, but there are many questions and notions still to be determined, as laid out in Meredith's Facebook post. Apparently DCPS has money this year to build a playground, an outdoor classroom and garden, and an "open turf area" for free play. But DPR does not have any funding for Joy Evans, and so the future remains unclear in terms of the renovation of the historic Lincoln Playground Building, the possible demolition of the Lincoln Capper pool and the adjacent "therapeutic recreation building" (what, you didn't know there is a therapeutic recreation building there?), and perhaps future playing fields and splash pads.

The May 10 meeting is at Van Ness at 6:30 pm. You can also contact Meredith with comments, concerns, questions, remarks, observations, opinions, notes, or feedback.

The photo at right was taken in 2007 from the roof of the old Capper Seniors building in its final days. You can see the general footprint of the Joy Evans Park along the lower part of the photo, with the Lincoln Capper pool and therapeutic recreation building cut off and the Lincoln Playground Building visible at lower right, with the grassy areas at left where the DCPS Phase 1 plans are to be built.

(Maybe I can get up on the roof of the Bixby at some point to take a current version, especially given the changes at Van Ness, including the new playground on the footprint of the parking lot that I can't believe I don't have even the most cursory photo of. I think I'm a-skeered of pointing my camera through a fence at an active playground and being promptly hauled off.)

Also, note that at the top of the site plan is "6th Street SE" -- this is the planned new block of 6th between L and M, running between this park area and the Bixby.

And, speaking of changes at Van Ness, I have been remiss in not mentioning the very visible construction along M Street of the new second floor above the gymnasium. But I took a picture!