{"id":1808,"date":"2010-06-23T15:50:56","date_gmt":"2010-06-23T15:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/?p=1808"},"modified":"2026-03-23T10:18:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T14:18:04","slug":"old-becomes-new-in-downtown-silver-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/2010\/06\/old-becomes-new-in-downtown-silver-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"Old Becomes New in Downtown Silver Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"
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1971 Photograph by Dave Stovall, Courtesy Silver Spring Historical Society<\/p><\/div>\n

Guest Post: Scott Whipple<\/p>\n

Montgomery County residents of a certain age will recall when the Colesville Road J.C. Penney\u2019s was a back-to-school shopping ritual. Its Art Deco fa\u00e7ade, neon signage, and brightly illuminated windows attracted shoppers from across the region. Combined with Hecht\u2019s and Jelleff\u2019s, it contributed to the vibrancy that made Silver Spring Maryland\u2019s second largest shopping destination.<\/p>\n

In 1985, the Planning Board recognized the store\u2019s architectural and historical significance, listing it in the Locational Atlas and Index of Historic Sites as part of a historic district in Silver Spring\u2019s Central Business District. But the Locational Atlas provides limited protection for identified resources.\u00a0 Subsequently, the building\u2019s owners were allowed to demolish the rear of the store but were required to retain the Colesville Road fa\u00e7ade.<\/p>\n

The building is poised for a second act. Again, it will attract people to Silver Spring, but this time for music. \u00a0The Fillmore music hall, planned through a partnership between Montgomery County economic development officials and landowner Lee Development Group<\/a>, will incorporate the store\u2019s fa\u00e7ade into the design of \u00a0the nightclub, expected to be part of the Live Nation <\/a>chain.<\/p>\n

As a requirement of the building\u2019s historic status, the development team worked with the Planning Department\u2019s historic preservation planners to make the fa\u00e7ade work as a nightclub while preserving its historical characteristics.<\/p>\n

The first plan, with its ticket windows surrounded by solid panels, removed the streetfront transparency.\u00a0 Preservation planners encouraged the design team to create a lively street frontage by increasing the amount of glazing \u2013 and void to solid ratio \u2013 to better replicate the fa\u00e7ade\u2019s historical appearance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Also, the initial signage plan was \u2014at eight feet tall and 39 feet wide\u2014nearly half the width and a fifth of the height of the building\u2019s fa\u00e7ade, a significant departure from its historic appearance.<\/p>\n

After some iterations, preservation planners approved a plan that increased the amount of storefront glazing and reduced the size of the signage, which planners believe will make the new nightclub more consistent with the fa\u00e7ade\u2019s historic appearance.\u00a0 Planners believe that increased transparency at the sidewalk level will contribute to an active streetscape that will once again enliven Silver Spring\u2019s central shopping and entertainment district.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest Post: Scott Whipple<\/p>\n

Montgomery County residents of a certain age will recall when the Colesville Road J.C. Penney\u2019s was a back-to-school shopping ritual. Its Art Deco fa\u00e7ade, neon signage, and brightly illuminated windows attracted shoppers from across the region. Combined with Hecht\u2019s and Jelleff\u2019s, it contributed to the vibrancy that made Silver Spring Maryland\u2019s second largest shopping destination.<\/p>\n

In 1985, the Planning Board recognized the store\u2019s architectural and historical significance, listing it in the Locational Atlas and Index of Historic Sites as part of a historic district in Silver Spring\u2019s Central Business District. But the Locational Atlas provides limited protection for identified resources.\u00a0 Subsequently, the building\u2019s owners were allowed to demolish the rear of the store but were … Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[159,128],"class_list":["post-1808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-architecture","category-design","tag-downtown-silver-spring","tag-historic-preservation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1808"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11081,"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1808\/revisions\/11081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montgomeryplanning.org\/blog-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}