PHOTO DIARY GIVES
BLOW-BY-BLOW
ACCOUNT OF HOW A
TWO-TENANT STRUCTURE
BECAME THE MOST
DANGEROUS BUILDING
IN BETHESDA
Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive
Now it can be told. The tale began when I broke the story in March that popular Fresh Grill and Dansez! Dansez! had been forced out of their Fairmont Avenue building, due to construction damage. An excavation project - literally at the building's back wall - was underway for Bainbridge's mixed-use project, The Monty.
Something went wrong, unspecified damage occurred that made the building uninhabitable, and all parties lawyered up, declining to share details with the press.
My emails to Fresh Grill went unanswered, and a recent article on Bethesda Patch noted that inquiries were similarly rebuffed by all parties. Understandably, given the circumstances, I suppose.
But while researching further, I struck gold, and found that a consultant to the Fresh Grill building has publicly
posted detailed photos of extensive structural damage, and the Herculean efforts to prevent further disaster. Cracked walls, buckled sidewalks, and much more; all raising questions as to the fate of this building. Multiple supports ostensibly prevent catastrophe at the edge of a literal abyss.
While this does not explain what the current status of the now-greatly delayed Monty project is, or the future status of Fresh Grill as a business, it does give an idea of how bad the damage is. A lot of people are hoping Fresh Grill can reopen somewhere else, presumably at the expense or generosity of whatever party is deemed to be responsible - or steps up and takes responsibility - for their total loss of income. It's possible that's happened already, and that's why the parties can't speak publicly. But we won't likely know until the legal process has run its course.
