About the project
The County Council voted against listing the former Weller’s Dry Cleaning in the County’s Master Plan for Historic Preservation. The Silver Spring Downtown and Adjacent Communities Plan (2022) directed Montgomery Planning to evaluate the former Weller’s Dry Cleaning for designation as a Master Plan Historic Site.
Googie style
The former Weller’s Dry Cleaning is located at 8237 Fenton Street in Silver Spring. The site consists of a Googie-styled commercial store and sign constructed in 1961. The Googie style is a popular, but relatively rare, mid-twentieth century roadside commercial architecture that is a subset of the Modern Movement of architecture. Architects popularized the style in California where the intention was to attract motorists traveling at 35 miles per hour or more to stop and patronize roadside businesses. The design of the Weller’s Dry Cleaning building and sign engaged the everyday consumer with a modern and popular architecture in lieu of the high-style austerity of the International, Brutalist, and Expressionist styles.
Timeline and Evaluation Process
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2002Potomac-Hudson Engineering, Inc (contracted by Montgomery Planning) recommends in Historic Sites Survey Report: Silver Spring Central Business District that the Weller’s Dry Cleaning be evaluated for the National Register of Historic Places and Master Plan for Historic Preservation.
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2015Claire Lise Kelly, then architectural historian for Montgomery Planning, features Weller’s Dry Cleaning in her publication Montgomery Modern: Modern Architecture of Montgomery County. She noted that the space age, Googie-design of the building and sign served as a gateway to the Fenton Street shopping center.
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2020EHT Traceries, Inc. finds that the resource is potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
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2020Planners begin work on the Silver Spring Downtown & Adjacent Communities Plan at the direction of the Montgomery County Council.
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2022The Approved and Adopted Silver Spring Downtown & Adjacent Communities Plan (2022) calls for the evaluation of Weller’s Dry Cleaning for listing in the Master Plan for Historic Preservation.
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2022Historic Preservation Commission finds that the site meets the designation requirements and recommends listing the property in the Master Plan for Historic Preservation.
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2023The Planning Board finds that the property does not meet the designation criteria for listing to the Master Plan for Historic Preservation.
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2023The Planning Board transmits their recommendation to the County Council. Public hearings will be scheduled at a later date.
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2023The County Council votes against listing the Weller’s Dry Cleaning in the Master Plan for Historic Preservation.
View the Planning Board Draft Plan (February 2023): Planning Board Draft
Appendix: Weller’s Dry Cleaning Designation Form
View the Public Hearing Draft Plan (January 2023): Public Hearing Draft
Appendix: Weller’s Dry Cleaning Designation Form
Staff Contact
John Liebertz
301-563-3405
Email