On 10th St. NW, New Icons Arrive, Another Leaves
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Metro Center
NEAR FORD'S THEATRE downtown, there are two big signs that are in transition. At the northwest corner of F and 10th streets NW is a sign for the new Madame Tussauds wax museum, which will be opening for business on Friday. Work crews are putting the finishing touches on the museum, which is part of the old Woodie's department store block, home to a new West Elm, H&M and later, a Zara clothing store.
Then quietly last week, the lights went out at the iconic Waffle Shop, a few steps south of the new wax museum on the same block as the Peterson House, where President Abraham Lincoln died after being shot in 1865. Well, the lights went out in the figurative sense — its distinctive steel and neon sign had been unlit for sometime. As downtown blog PQLiving reported on Friday, the Waffle Shop closed last week. Signs now point its loyal patrons to the Lincoln House just down the block. This morning, the relocated Waffle Shop was buzzing with activity when we walked by.
But yet, the closure of the Waffle Shop, which opened in 1950, will leave a big void. Back in December, The Post's Blake Gopnik featured the shop in a large feature, showcasing the place where Washingtonians "get to see a similar historic treasure, but with its context left intact." Well, make that "get to see," a "once got to see."
Wrote Gopnik at the time:
This crucial social dimension to the Waffle Shop gives it still more in common with important art. The Waffle Shop's mosaic waves evoke Picasso's 1930s curves; the skew grid of its terrazzo floors speaks of a Mondrian crisscross; the red and chrome of its stools descend from Russian constructivism. Yet the diner's not a freestanding exercise in modern forms. Like all good art, it speaks of and with the world around it.In the last few months, downtown lost the historic Reeves' bakery and now the Waffle Shop is toast. Unfortunately, you can't cast those downtown icons in wax to put on display for tourists at Madame Tussauds.
At least the Waffle Shop's spirit has simply moved a few doors down.
» "Madame Tussauds D.C." [Official Site]
» "Let Them Eat Waffles! (At The Lincoln House)" [PQ Living]
» "Waffle Shop Is Closed" [PQ Living]
EARLIER:
» "Fast-Order Classic" [WaPo]
» "Eating Around: Reeves Bakery Is Closing" [Free Ride/Express]
Photos by Melina Mara/The Washington Post
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Addison Road
That place has had numerous health code violations over the years.
By rockcreekrambler , Posted October 2, 2007 2:19 PM