Wok and Roll

[jonathan]

So I'm very happy to say that Wednesday morning I found myself in downtown Washington D.C. with a few free hours in which to squeeze as much sightseeing as possible. I left the hotel at seven o'clock and walked a couple of blocks up to the Wok and Roll, then headed down by the National Archives to the National Mall, trying to get some nice pictures before heading back up to Ford's. Got there just after nine o'clock, picked up a 10:00 ticket and just kind of hung around the area until time to get in line. So I did the Ford's Theatre/Petersen House/Center for Education and Leadership thing and enjoyed it immensely. The staff at Ford's were all very helpful and pleasant, and I'll confess to getting goose bumps inside the theatre, and then in particular inside the Petersen house. I'll also say that there were many more people than I expected for 10:00 a.m. the day before Thanksgiving. I talked with someone at Ford's and he said he didn't expect that many people either. By then I was running very short on time, so I just went around the block and snuck up the former Baptist Alley to the back door of Ford's, then headed on back to the hotel to check out and head home. On the way out, we did take a slight detour to swing out to Clinton, Maryland and see the Surratt House Museum. We really shouldn't have taken that extra time, but I just couldn't resist, and much like Booth and Herold we only stayed 5 minutes and never went inside. Just took a few pictures and headed out. Laurie, if you were there, I'm sooo sorry. I was just afraid if I went in to have a look around, an hour would disappear before I realized it, and we just didn't have it to spare. I would have also loved to head over to Mudd's and a few other places, but just had to pass on that this time.

So my question is this....is there any real hope that the Wok and Roll will someday become the Surratt Boarding House Museum? They weren't open when I was there so I just took a few nice pictures and stood for a few minutes considering the history of the place. It's just hard to stand there and not feel sad that it's a restaurant, and then imagine what it could be with an ownership change and restoration. These are the kinds of things that I never used to think about, but I think about quite a lot now. It almost makes me want to start a "Buy back the Surratt Boarding House" fund drive

[Jim Garrett]

Glad you enjoyed your trip to Ford's Theatre and the Petersen House. Often Ford's/Petersen sell out their morning tickets, even when they don't expect it. Their capacity is about 300 visitors every half hour.

As far as the Wok N Roll......There is little to no chance that the building will ever become a museum. The main reason is $$$$$. If ownership has not changed, it is owned by a Chinese family that has owned the property for a long long time. They have no interest. Even with restrictive covenants due to the historic nature of the building, the property would be too expensive to be able to raise the couple of million dollars probably needed.

We are lucky that we still have it at all. The rash of redevelopement from the late 1970s through 2000s have largely bypassed the few blocks that represent Chinatown.

[L Verge]

I agree with Jim that the boardinghouse will never be resurrected as a museum. I believe that the Lee family did sell out several years ago. However, the Chinatown area is now very high rent because of the close proximity to the Verizon Center. We have often worried that more parking lots might be needed! Its being part of the last vestiges of Chinatown, however, has probably saved it.

I suspect that there might also be some problems with getting federal funding for a restoration. We have tried on three occasions to raise Surratt House's standing from the Register of Historic Places to National Historic Landmark. We get rejected each time because the NPS does not see the "need for any more reminders of the Lincoln assassination."

It would also be an expensive restoration because of the damage that has been done to the interior in recent renovations. The first and second floors have been literally gutted into one space with high ceilings.