August 2023 Progress at Gaithersburg’s Pleasant View Park (Photos)

The City of Gaithersburg is in the process of developing a 9.54-acre park with parking, community gardens, a bicycle skills course (pump track), open space, pavilions, a playground, fitness pods, and a welcome plaza. Originally scheduled to be completed February 2023, there have been some delays. While a new completion date is not yet available, much of the work in the actual park has been completed. It looks like some clean-up is needed within the park and some work on the roads leading up to it is still necessary. It’s possible this park opens this fall.

A new parking lot will be constructed at the park’s west boundary. Vehicular access to the park will be through the drive that extends from Darnestown Road. Pedestrians will be able to access the site from Darnestown Road via a path that will be located parallel to the access drive into the park. Pedestrians will also be able to access the park from Marsh Lane. A Ride-On bus stop is located on Darnestown Road at the park entrance.

Pleasant View Park is named after the nearby Pleasant View community, one of the first free black communities established after the Civil War. The park’s name honors the historic significance of that community and also reflects the beauty of the natural surroundings. The land was acquired through the Federal Land to Parks Program of the United States Department of the Interior National Park Service. From 1955 to 1975, this location served as a fire control radar site for the U.S. Army NIKE missile system. After 1975, the site was used by the Consumer Product Safety Commission as the National Laboratory Campus for testing consumer products.