A police investigation has the following schools in a shelter-in-place: Watkins Mill HS, Watkins Mill ES, Montgomery Village MS, Whetstone ES and Stedwick ES.
More information will be released as it becomes available. #MCPNews #MCPD pic.twitter.com/fIOeNlkPsn
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRS) responded to a call for a house fire on Foxlair Rd, off of Huntmaster Rd, in the Gaithersburg/Laytonsville area at approximately 9:45 on Monday night after a passerby reported the house on fire.
According to MCFRA Chief Spokesperson Pete Piringer, the situation involved the exterior of the home being on fire due to decorative Christmas lights. Upon arrival, firefighters found the fire “mostly out”, and completed extinguishing what was left. There were no injuries, but there was approximately $25k incurred in damage.
The Arts Barn celebrates 20 years as Gaithersburg’s home for the arts with a special Anniversary Arts Festival Weekend, Friday, April 14 through Sunday, April 16, 2023. Enjoy a free community arts festival on the Kentlands Green. The family-friendly festival will feature music, dance and theater performances, an artisan market, food trucks, art demonstrations & activities, and more.
The festival will also feature docent-led tours of the Arts Barn and Kentlands Mansion. The Mayor & City Council will present an official proclamation designating April 15 as “Arts Barn Day: Celebrating 20 Years of Creativity.” April 15 schedule below:
Pacific Dental Services (PDS) is continuing its expansion across the country with another Montgomery County location, this time in Gaithersburg. Gaithersburg Modern Dentistry will be taking over the former home of Capital One Bank at 812 Muddy Branch Rd in Muddy Branch Square.
PDS previously opened Montgomery County locations in Silver Spring in 2020 (Dentists of Silver Spring at 1286 East-West Hwy), Aspen Hill in 2022 (Aspen Hill Modern Dentistry at 13745 Connecticut Ave in the Aspen Hill Shopping Center) and opened an Olney location in the Shoppes of Olney a few months back.
Dan Bell, a filmmaker from Baltimore, is best known for his Dead Mall documentary series, cataloguing the 2010s urban decay phenomenon of foreclosured upon/abandoned shopping malls. After years of fans clamoring for Bell to visit Lakeforest, he released his video highlighting the soon-to-be demolished mall in February (video below). The video has been viewed 63k times since it’s release nine days ago. Plans to redevelop the mall were recently recommended for approval by City of Gaithersburg planning staff.
CVS has recently opened locations at 311 Kentlands Blvd in Gaithersburg and at 22701 Gosnell Farm Dr in Clarksburg. CVS is also expected to open a location in the new Westside at Shady Grove Metro development, in the area across from the strip that contains Starbucks, Inspire Nails, Kids Ground, and more (Crabbs Branch Way and Gramercy Blvd).
The Planning Commission, based upon the findings presented herein and the evidence in the record, recommend approval (with conditions) of Z-9444-2022, the Lakeforest Mall Rezoning & Sketch Plan, to the Gaithersburg Mayor & City Council earlier this week. The Mayor & City Council hold their record open until 5 p.m. Friday March 10, 2023 with anticipated Policy Discussion April 3, 2023 (photos of what’s to come available below).
In a January meeting, WRS Inc. stated plans to demolish “as soon as they can.” Financing requires the mall to remain as an option in case “things go really sideways”, which would have cause WRS to have to look at re-tenanting the mall, but things are looking very optimistic following the recommendation. Previously, WRS mentioned 2024 as a target date for demolition to occur and new construction to begin.
Pho Nom Nom, which has a location at 842 Rockville Pike, will be opening a second restaurant at 18509 N Frederick Ave at Gaithersburg S.C. (that’s the name of the shopping center), at the former site of Pho Viet Saigon. A representative from the Rockville location tells us the new store is still a few months away from opening. Pho Nom Nom specializes in authentic Vietnamese cuisine, including pho, banh mi, noodles and grilled dishes.
Gaithersburg S.C. is home to MoCo’s only Bruster’s and Corner Pizza. The shopping center was also once home to Hechinger, the hardware store that once had over 130 locations in the Mid-Atlantic.
Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen at 417 N Frederick Ave in Gaithersburg has temporarily closed. According to signage on the front door, the restaurant is closed due to a maintenance issue and […]
Brio’s Chicken has announced it will no longer be opening its location at the Kentlands in Gaithersburg. Signage for Brio’s Chicken first went up at the location back in 2020 but the restaurant was delayed several years due to issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We were told by the restaurant back in February that construction had finally began but financing fell through. Brio’s Chicken previously had a location in Aspen Hill in the Aspen Manor shopping center, where Outback is located, but that location is under new ownership and is now known as Gio’s Chicken. The owner of the restaurant tells us that they are looking to sell the restaurant equipment they have already purchased. You can reach Jose at 240-342-0067.
Potomac Cookie Co: Potomac Cookie Co is coming to 109A Market St in the Kentlands Square shopping center in Gaithersburg, near Moby Dick and the upcoming Poke Bros. Potomac Cookie is known for its “giant size” 4oz cookies. Flavors include Choco-delight, Da Fudge, Dorothy’s Slippers, Double Dutch, Peebee ‘n’ Yay!, and S’more Love. No opening date for Potomac Cookie Co has been announced.
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRS) responded to a call for a fire at a middle-of-the-row townhouse on Travis Court in Gaithersburg at approximately 6:30pm on Thursday afternoon.
According to MCFRS Chief Spokesperson Pete Piringer, the fire started on the second floor of the house and was contained to the bedroom. Red Cross assisted and two occupants have been displaced. There were no injuries.