Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The multicultural resource and educational center would move from its offices on Reedie Drive.
The Charles Gilchrist Center for Cultural Diversity, which provides services and classes to immigrants and their families in Montgomery County, will likely be a part of the new library and community recreation center complex planned for Wheaton. "I'm pretty certain that it's going to happen," said Karla Silvestre, the center's director, who has been in talks with the county's Department of Libraries. Ernest Lunsford, division chief for Building Design and Construction in the Department of General Services, also confirmed plans to include the center in the designs. The center is located in the Mid-County Regional Services Center at 2424 Reedie Drive, near the Wheaton Metro station and the bus bay at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and …
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Patch looks back to what was going on around this time last year with plans for the Wheaton library and recreation center project.
Montgomery County is almost ready to begin the design phase for the combination Wheaton Library and Community Recreation Center project on Georgia Avenue. And the funding is in place, thanks to a budget decision last March by two Montgomery County Council committees. [Stay informed about news in Wheaton by signing up for a daily newsletter and breaking news alerts from Wheaton Patch.] At their joint meeting on March 5, 2012, the Planning, Housing, and Economic Development and the Housing and Human Services committees voted to advance planning and design funding for the project to fiscal year 2013 and fiscal year 2014, as proposed by Councilmember Nancy Navarro. This decision (later affirmed by the full council) represented a two-year …
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Volunteer representatives from three advisory boards will meet regularly with the architects during the design phase.
Montgomery County is almost ready to begin the design phase for the combination Wheaton Library and Community Recreation Center project on Georgia Avenue. "We're just bringing our architect on board," said Ernest Lunsford, division chief for Building Design and Construction in the Department of General Services. The county has chosen Grimm + Parker Architects to design what will be the county's first combined facility for a library and recreation center. Lunsford said Grimm + Parker is "ideally situated" for the project because the firm has experience designing both libraries (Rockville Memorial Library) and recreation centers (White Oak Community Recreation Center) for the county. But before design can begin, the county's libraries and …
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The director of the county’s Department of General Services says the public still will have a role in the design.
David Dise, the man charged with overseeing construction of a first-of-its-kind combination library and recreation center, faces a challenge: How to build the project on an accelerated schedule, while still giving the community a say on its appearance and use. Dise, director of the Montgomery County Department of General Services, said he wants to start the public participation process in January and continue into the spring with at least two charrettes in Wheaton. At these intensive planning sessions, community members could weigh in on the architect’s design strategy and, later, offer reflections on final design concepts. DGS chose Grimm + Parker Architects from its pool of general contractors. The selection method was a departure from …
Monday, December 3, 2012
The committee received updates on redevelopment in downtown Wheaton and the selection of an architect for the Wheaton Library and recreation center project.
The Wheaton Redevelopment Advisory Committee discussed the Wheaton Library project, redevelopment on Parking Lot 13, and Wheaton’s small businesses at its Nov. 28 meeting at the Mid-County Regional Services Center. Wheaton Library Greg Ossont, deputy director of the Department of General Services for Montgomery County, presented an update on the progress of the Wheaton Library and Recreation Center project, which would combine the two facilities on Georgia Avenue into new building. Ossont told the advisory committee that the county has decided to use Grimm + Parker, an architecture firm with offices in Calverton, MD, and McClean, VA. Grimm + Parker is already under contract with the county. Redevelopment advisory committee members …
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
The Montgomery County Council supported advancing the renovation project construction by three years.
With a unanimous recommendation from two Montgomery County Council committees, the full council voted unofficially on Tuesday to expedite funding for the Wheaton Library and Recreation Center renovation project in the CIP. At a March 5 worksession, the Health and Human Services and the Planning, Housing, and Economic Development committees both recommended funding $2.43 million for FY13, $3.062 million for FY14, and $30.3 million for FY15. This funding schedule moves construction from FY18 to FY15--a three-year advance on County Executive Isiah Leggett's recommendations. Although the council deferred its originally scheduled discussion of Wheaton Redevelopment, the program remained part of the conversational backdrop. Council Vice …
Monday, March 5, 2012
Five councilmembers showed their support by voting to advance construction on the Wheaton Library and Recreation Center complex by three years in the county CIP budget.
Two Montgomery County Council committees voted Monday to advance the Wheaton Library and Recreation Center renovation project in the county’s six-year CIP budget. Instead of beginning construction in fiscal year 2018 as recommended by the county executive, the committees unanimously voted to move construction funds to fiscal year 2015. At their March 5 joint meeting, the Planning, Housing, and Economic Development and the Housing and Human Services committees also voted to advance planning and design funding to FY13 and FY14, as proposed by Council Vice President Nancy Navarro. This decision represents a two-year adjustment of County Executive Isiah Leggett’s Capital Improvement Program recommendations, which allotted design and planning…
Randall Spadoni
10:25 am on Thursday, March 7, 2013
charette: "In fields of design such as architecture... the term charrette may refer to an intense period of work by one person or a group of people prior to a deadline. The period of a charrette typically involves both focused and sustained effort." Thanks for the updates on the library/recreation center, Esther. Perhaps we will be charretting with Grimm + Parker this spring! more ›