Call Box Restoration Goal Is in Sight, Thanks to You

By Ross Schipper and Linda Brooks

Last month we reported the receipt of nearly 60 percent of the estimated $13,500 needed to restore our neighborhood’s five fire call boxes. The generosity of current and former citizens of Burleith continues to astound us, and we have now surpassed the 70 percent mark with less than $4,000 needed to reach our goal.

If you haven’t already donated to this exciting project, we hope you will help us now by

• sending a check made payable to the Burleith Community Fund (BCF) to PO Box 32262, Calvert Station, 2336 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 (along with this completed form), or

• donating online.

(The BCF has 501(c)(3) status, and all donations are tax-deductible.)

During the restoration process, each call box will be stripped of its paint using an environmentally friendly stripping agent, primed with a rust-inhibitive primer, and painted with the original colors of the call boxes: red for the call box housing and black for the pedestal and light pole. Each of the restored call boxes will bear a plaque describing some aspect of Burleith or its history. A trim of gold paint will be added, yielding a design unique to the Burleith neighborhood.

With the donations received so far, we are ready to embark on the restoration of the call boxes at the corners of 36th & S and 37th & T. As soon as contracts can be negotiated and suitable weather returns, look for activity to begin at these two sites.