Arena Stage to Use Crystal City Flex Space

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WHAT DO ARENA STAGE and noted restaurateur Roberto Donna have in common? They're both using Crystal City in Virginia as temporary refuge as their District digs are being renovated.

As The Post's Jacqueline Trescott reports, Arena Stage is set to undergo major renovations starting in January and will relocate to a renovated 460-seat facility that once housed the Crystal Forum movie house. Arena Stage will also utilize the Lincoln Theatre on U Street NW, as well as other venues. The new Arena Stage on Maine Avenue in Southwest is scheduled open in 2010.

It's another major score for Crystal City, the much-maligned planned office and residential complex between the Pentagon and Reagan National Airport, which is seeing a major exodus of military and other office jobs.

Donna's flagship Galileo restaurant on 21st Street NW closed last year because of major renovations. The Italian chef was exiled to Crystal City, and opened a more casual pizza-focused joint called Bebo Trattoria, which currently occupies the former space of Jose Andres' Oyamel, which relocated to a much more high-traffic location on 7th Street NW in the District.

With so much flex space in Crystal City, what else might move there? Let's just hope the stench leaves the area before Arena Stage moves in.

» "Arena Stage Moving to Va. While Venue Is Expanded" [WaPo]
» "Welcome to Crystal City, Smell the Poop" [D.C. Metblogs]

Courtesy D.C. Film Commission