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Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is a Call Box?
On many street corners throughout Washington, you will see an elaborate iron base with a box mounted on top. Some have a yellow light on a long pole on top of the box. Some are of a basic house shape; a few, harp-shaped; and still others are basically a rectangle with rounded corners. These are police and fire call boxes – remnants of a time before home phones were widespread. If there was a fire, someone could run to the nearest one and turn in the alarm. Although originally painted black with red or blue boxes on top, more recently they have been gray with red (fire) or blue (police) highlights. The police call boxes had a different purpose. They were used by a patrol officer to notify a central command center that his patrol was proceeding without problems and that no assistance was necessary. There was also a feature to allow passersby to call for a wagon or other help. These were painted blue.
2. So what is the Call Box Project (aka Art on Call)?
This is a city-wide program to identify, protect, renovate, and reuse the city’s fire and police call boxes, that have been abandoned. The Department of Transportation is responsible for stripping lead-based paint from the call boxes, repairing and priming them. (Unity Construction started this work in the fall 2002.) Cultural Tourism DC (formerly DC Heritage Tourism Coalition) will coordinate community efforts to convert the boxes into neighborhood icons – showcases for the unique history and culture of each community. The DC Council for Arts and Humanities is also involved.
3. A showcase for history and culture? What do you mean?
Each box will have a theme that reflects something about the neighborhood – some one who lived there, some building, some tradition (like a block party, for instance), or a more “generic” topic, such as trees on Capitol Hill. Artists will decorate the box exteriors and create “plaques” or pieces of art using old photographs, quotes from long-time residents, poems that capture the spirit of the place, or notes on historic events or personalities. These will be affixed within the boxes.
4. I’d like to get involved. What can I do?
Each individual box will need an artist to work on the design, of course, but each box will also need someone to research or write the information, raise funds to manufacture the plaque or art work, coordinate all the workers, paint the final coats, and monitor the condition of the box after it has been finished. We also need people to help with community-wide tasks – getting out notices of meetings and information about the program to groups, work with schools if they are interested in the project, map the location of the boxes so a brochure can be prepared later.
5. There’s a box just down the street. Can I work on that one?
We’re encouraging people to join with their neighbors to work on boxes. Before you begin, contact the Capitol Hill Restoration Society (Nancy Metzger, 546-1034, n.metzger2@verizon.net) to “register” for that box. CHRS is serving as the clearinghouse for greater Capitol Hill and as the conduit for city and contributed funds. If others are already interested, you’ll be given contact information so all can work together.
6. After registering for a box – what do I do then?
- Decide on a theme. If you’re stuck for ideas, talk with neighbors or give us a call and we’ll all brainstorm for an idea for the box.
- Work with an artist. If you’re not artistically inclined and the neighbors aren’t either, we’ll work to find an artist for you. The Capitol Hill Art League will be working with us on this project.
- Figure out a budget. Some projects will be rather straightforward, similar to historic plaques, so we’ll have a pretty good idea of what they will cost. But others will have to sent out for bids/estimates to know the costs. The city-wide Art on Call project will be funding approved boxes with up to $250. Community groups are expected to match each $250 grant with $250 in cash or documented in-kind services. Some boxes may need more than $500 to be completed – that will require more fund raising
- Submit a proposal to the Capitol Hill Task Force for review. This is a requirement from the city-wide Art on Call project – and will ensure that the proposal is ready to be evaluated by the city team. We’ll need the proposed budget and a sketched out design as well as citations for the information presented. A review committee will be looking for the same things the city group will: artistic quality, historical accuracy, and durability and appropriateness of materials.
After approval, the Capitol Hill Task Force will submit your proposal and others to the city. When approved, the funds will be released to the Capitol Hill Restoration Society to pay for project materials and other expenses associated with each box. (The Society makes no profit on this.) The design will be translated into the plaque or object that will be inserted in each box; the exterior of the box will be painted and the plaque or art permanently attached.
7. What exactly will the city be looking for in the proposals?
- Artistic Quality, including personal artistic vision, relation to the site or neighborhood, unique design and lasting material.
- Historical Accuracy, interest value, relationship to the historic and/or current neighborhood culture, quality of photographs, and relevance to local political, social, cultural, economic or architectural elements.
- Durability and Appropriateness of Materials that maintain the integrity of form. Attachments are possible only if they enhance rather than detract from the call box design.
8. I still have questions, who do I call?
If you have questions about the city-wide program, call Cultural Tourism DC at 661-7581 or e-mail.
If you have questions or want to be included in the Capitol Hill effort, contact Nancy Metzger at 546-1034 or by e-mail.
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