June 11 tour reveals diversity of urban park and recreational facilities, including cricket field, artificial turf, tree farm and historic barn renovation
SILVER SPRING, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Board joined staff from Montgomery Parks and Planning Departments on a tour of nine County park sites on Thursday, June 11, 2015. These sites represent a small fraction of the 420 parks managed by the Department of Parks, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, but represent some of the newest designs and practices in urban and recreational settings. They serve as models for the 34 future parks recommended as part of master plans for communities such as Downtown Bethesda, Westbard, White Oak, White Flint and others throughout the county.
The daylong bus and walking tour included visits to:
Germantown Town Center Urban Park – This nearly nine-acre parcel next to the new Germantown Regional Library is a creative solution to a constrained site. Raised walkways around an existing wetland lead to a green space filled with sculptural seating and a plaza with public artworks shaped like trees. Parks like this one will become more common as the County urbanizes and implements master-planned open spaces within dense communities.
Ridge Road Recreational Park – With its multiple ball fields, tennis and volleyball courts and in-line hockey rink, these 56 acres in Germantown reflect the multi-purpose nature of County recreational parks. The Parks and Planning Board’s visit highlighted a successful field renovation, now planted with Bermuda grass to withstand heavy use and achieve regrowth more quickly. Artificial turf on playing fields is also being tried out, as evident in the visit to Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreational Park in Silver Spring.
Strawberry Knoll Local Park – The Planning Board seized the opportunity to try out the new cricket pitch in this park with balls pitched by members of the local cricket league. Increasing interest in this sport led M-NCPPC to create three cricket fields in the County.
Laytonia Recreational Park – The Planning Board visited a new recreational park on 51 acres of land located on Airpark Road, just north of Muncaster Mill Road. The site plan includes four fields (two adult baseball and two youth baseball), with a central plaza containing a building to house a press box, restrooms and vending area. The plan also includes a playground, lighted basketball court, two picnic shelters, in-line skating rink, and trailhead parking to access an existing natural surface trail located just north of park property.
Pope Farm Nursery – The Planning Board toured the grounds to see the wide variety of trees, shrubs and flowers grown at this Gaithersburg facility for hundreds of County parks. About 700 tons of leaves and branches are composted here each year to create mulch for the parks.
Rock Creek Regional Park – Montgomery Parks staff presented plans for a new maintenance facility at the five-acre construction site in the park. This facility will be the first LEED Gold-certified maintenance facility in the system.
Solar Farm – The tour also passed the site of a future solar farm, due to be constructed off Needwood Road near the Intercounty Connector (ICC), as part of the Parks Department’s sustainability program. Consistent with Montgomery County’s energy initiatives, the solar panels will create power that can be sold into the utility grid and offset the cost of the parks’ energy usage, when installed at the end of 2015.
Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park -The visit to this Sandy Spring-area park with its Federal-style home highlighted the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of a stone barn and carriage house on the property. These structures will become part of a future visitor center, scheduled to open in 2016. Traditional and multi-media exhibits will present the history of the Quakers, Underground Railroad, enslaved and free black populations in the area.
Martin Luther King Recreational Park – The tour finished in the eastern part of the County with a tour of athletic fields and an opportunity to see different types of turf treatments.