[Archived] Duke Street Concourse Opens July 1 Dedication Ceremony July 17

City Press Release


	City of Alexandria, Virginia Office of the City Manager Alexandria City Hall 301 King Street, Suite 3500 Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3211 www.alexandriava.gov Telephone: 703.838.4300 Fax : 703.838.6343

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 2004
PIO 153-04

Duke Street Concourse Opens July 1
Dedication Ceremony July 17

The Duke Street Concourse, an underground pedestrian walkway that connects the King Street Metro station to the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) campus, is scheduled for a “soft” opening on Thursday, July 1 and a dedication ceremony on Saturday, July 17, at 9 am. While minor finishing work may still be underway on July 1, the Concourse will be open weekdays from 6 am to 8 pm and Saturdays 9 am to 5 pm. The Concourse and is located beneath Duke Street connecting the King Street Metro station to the PTO campus.

The purpose of the Concourse is to allow the thousands of pedestrians expected to cross from Carlyle and the PTO to cross Duke Street on their way to the King Street Metro station safely, without conflicting with vehicular traffic. About 7,100 employees will work at the Alexandria PTO when it is fully occupied in mid-2005. Approximately 50% of PTO employees are expected to use transit to get to work. The majority of those will use the King Street Metro station.

The Concourse is 170 long, 20 feet wide and 12 feet high. It has a brick floor and the walls feature artwork by Ashley Spencer: six historic maps of Alexandria and six paintings depicting historic scenes of the Carlyle neighborhood (where the PTO is located).

Carlyle Development Corporation hired Corman Construction, Inc. to build the Concourse. The project took approximately 9 months to build.

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