Pleasant View Park, the 30th park in the City of Gaithersburg’s inventory, officially opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday, November 18, 2024. Since opening to the public in September, the park has quickly become a favorite among residents, frequently bustling with children and adults enjoying its diverse amenities.
Per the City of Gaithersburg: The 9.54-acre park is located at the former Consumer Product Safety Commission site at 10901 Darnestown Rd. and features the City’s first community garden, a bicycle skills course (pump track), open space, pavilions and picnic tables, a playground, outdoor fitness equipment, and a welcome plaza.
Gaithersburg Mayor Jud Ashman and Council Members Neil Harris and Yamil Hernández were joined by City Manager Tanisha Briley, Assistant City Manager Tom Lonergan, Director of Parks, Recreation and Culture Carolyn Muller, Project Manager Sunil Prithviraj, Director of Planning and Code Greg Mann, and City staff. Also in attendance were former City Council Member Mike Sesma, Delegates Julie Palakovich Carr, Ryan Spiegel and Greg Wims, Montgomery County Council Member Laurie-Anne Sayles, Reverand Green, Alice Storm Jones with Floura Teeter Landscape Architects, Tatiana Marquez with National Park Service, Michael McQuarrie, Margaret Lashar and Stephanie Benavides with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and Tim Sheckler with the U.S. General Services Administration. Rachel Robin with Senator Cheryl Kagan’s office presented a citation on behalf of the Senator.
Pleasant View Park is named after the nearby Quince Orchard community, one of the first free black communities established after the Civil War. The park’s name honors the Pleasant View Historic Site, where members of the Quince Orchard community built the Quince Orchard Colored School and the Pleasant View Methodist Episcopal Church (sometimes called the Quince Orchard Methodist Church) and also reflects the beauty of the natural surroundings.
From 1955 to 1975, the 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. “We acknowledge this land’s great history and recognize it as part of the fabric of the City of Gaithersburg,” said Mayor Ashman. “This site is a remnant of Quince Orchard, a farming community formed by African Americans after the Civil War in the era of racial segregation. In addition, archaeologists have found evidence of Paleo-Indians inhabiting this region about 12,000 years ago, followed by the Archaic Indians, who existed until about 3,000 years ago.”
The land was acquired through the Federal Land to Parks Program of the United States Department of the Interior National Park Service, and funding was received from Program Open Space from the State Department of Natural Resources, which came through Montgomery County Parks.
The total project cost of approximately $5.7 million dollars. The park design was by Floura Teeter Landscape Architects and the construction of the park was completed by Patriot Construction, LLC.
The park is open from sunrise until sunset. Visitors can access the park via the entrance drive that extends from Darnestown Rd., and pedestrians can access the site from Darnestown Rd. via a path that runs parallel to the entrance drive into the park. Pedestrians can also access the park from Marsh Ln. A Ride-On bus stop is located on Darnestown Rd. at the park entrance.
The City of Gaithersburg has almost 900 acres of parkland – a total of 30 publicly accessible City parks and several natural resource areas. According to the Parks, Recreation, and Culture Element of the City’s Master Plan, 74% of City residents live within a quarter mile of a City park and 93.6% live within a half mile. All City residents live within 0.78 miles of a City park and 0.63 miles of a publicly accessible park. Courtesy City of Gaithersburg.
