From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at KeithLynch.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] New Carrollton Chameleon
Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2013 20:27:56 -0400 (EDT)
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

> Date: Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:15:46 -0400 (EDT)
> From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at KeithLynch.net>

> I happened to be in New Carrollton recently, so I dropped by the old
> Disclave hotel.

And I did so again last Friday.

> Disclave was in that hotel from 1984 through 1991 and again in 1997
> (the year of the flood).  (I attended all of those Disclaves.)  This
> hotel was called the New Carrollton Sheraton in 1984, The Sheraton
> Inn in 1985, The Sheraton Washington Northeast in 1986 and 1987,
> the Howard Johnson New Carrollton in 1988 and 1989, the Sheraton
> Greenbelt in 1990 and 1991, and the Ramada Inn Conference and
> Exhibition Center in 1997.  In 2006, the last time I dropped by, its
> name was New Carrollton Hotel.  Now it's a Four Points by Sheraton.

Now it's the Metro Points Hotel.  Their website says, "Minutes from
Washington, D.C., the brand new Metro Points Hotel New Carrollton is
now open to exceed your hotel accommodation needs."

> The first Disclave in that hotel was more than a quarter century
> ago.  The last Disclave, which was in that hotel, will have been an
> eighth of a century ago as of next month.  As Kermit says, time's
> fun when you're having flies.

Add another three and a half years to those numbers.

> There's a new strip mall that curves around and touches the hotel at
> both ends.  A fence completely surrounds the hotel and strip mall,
> open only for a single driveway.  Inside, the hotel is much fancier
> than I had ever seen it before.  Everything is brass, teak, and
> rosewood.

I hadn't noticed last time, but the pool is long gone.  That space has
long since been converted to offices.

> When I went out the back, toward the bunker, I was confronted with
> a wall.  It's a very short wall, trivial to walk around, and its
> purpose is obviously not to block anyone, but to direct one's
> attention left or right rather than directly across toward the
> bunker.

That wall is still there.

> The bunker, a converted parking garage, site of Disclave's art show
> and "Discave" con suite, is much the worse for wear.  The canopy is
> gone.  All carpeting is gone.  The glass doors are much too dirty to
> see through.  One of them is half-open, rusted in place.

Now the glass doors are gone, as is the railing on the stairs.  The
bare concrete stairs are still there, and lead to a permanently open
doorway.

> There's trash at the bottom of the stairwell.  Other than trash and
> graffiti, there's nothing whatsoever in the bunker, whose back is
> open to the outdoors.

Now even the trash and graffiti are gone.

> It looks as if squatters had been living in it for a while, but
> had long since abandoned it for someplace more upscale.  It would
> clearly need major work even to be restored to use as a parking
> garage.  I doubt it will ever be used again for anything.  I'm
> surprised it hasn't been torn down yet.

It looks like it's usable as a parking garage, but there were no cars
parked in it.  I noticed that ductwork is long gone.  (One Disclave I
stashed an artwork on top of the ductwork as it wasn't convenient for
me to take it home.  I retrieved it the following year.)

> I miss Disclave.