Montgomery Parks currently operates three skate parks:
There are also skate parks operated by the City of Gaithersburg and City of Rockville. Montgomery Parks is planning to build five additional parks in the following areas:
Montgomery Parks
Montgomery Planning’s Historic Preservation Office has initiated “Remarkable Montgomery: Untold Stories,” an ongoing project to install historic markers around the county that highlight underrepresented topics in local history. Both Montgomery Planning and Montgomery Parks will be installing “Remarkable Montgomery: Untold Stories” markers throughout the county in a shared effort to bring greater recognition to people, places, and events with significant histories that we have undervalued in the past. The markers, which offer more flexibility than a formal designation on Montgomery County’s Master Plan for Historic Preservation, tell stories of people and places that shaped our communities, even where physical evidence of those histories may no longer exist.
Focused on Equity: The Historic Preservation Office is committed to enacting Montgomery Planning’s Equity Agenda for Planning. In part, this includes acknowledging that the practice of historic preservation has long overlooked histories and historic sites related to non-dominant groups. To begin to address this imbalance, the marker program will bring forward histories tied to county residents’ struggles for racial and social justice and the stories of people who broke the boundaries of their times. Markers Currently in Production:
The Montgomery County Council unanimously voted July 11 to add the former Edward U. Taylor Elementary School property to the county’s Master Plan for Historic Preservation. The County Council’s vote designating the Taylor School a historic site aligns with the recommendations of the Montgomery County Planning Department and the Montgomery County Planning Board. The Taylor School was built in 1952 as an elementary school for Black students at a time when Montgomery County used legally sanctioned racial segregation to prohibit Black children from attending white schools. The facility was built to modern school design standards and represents the movement by the county’s Black community to have better facilities and opportunities after decades of public underinvestment in educational facilities for Black children. One of the last schools to be desegregated in 1961, the Taylor School was the only segregated Black elementary or high school that retained its original use as a school building when it integrated.
“Montgomery Planning commends the County Council for designating the Edward U. Taylor Elementary School site historic,” said Acting Planning Director Tanya Stern. “The Taylor School is a significant landmark in the fight against racial segregation in Montgomery County and the nation and educates current and future generations about the struggle to integrate schools. Adding it to the county’s Master Plan for Historic Preservation ensures the inspiring efforts of individuals like Edward U. Taylor and Black organizations, parents, and teachers to obtain quality educational facilities for Black children in the mid-20th century will never be forgotten.” The draft amendment to add the Taylor School to the county’s Master Plan for Historic Preservation also proposed adding the former Weller’s Dry Cleaning site in Silver Spring to the master plan. The County Council followed the Planning Board’s recommendation and voted to not designate the Weller’s property historic. Historic designation criteria are established in Chapter 24A in the Montgomery County Code. The Council evaluated the sites against the criteria and found that the Edward U. Taylor School met the following criteria:
Montgomery Parks is seeking ideas and suggestions on features that will make new skate parks attractive to skateboarders and other users of all ages and abilities. Long-term plans call for the construction of five new skate parks, in addition to the three already in operation. Take the “Build Your Dream Skate Park!” survey in the link.
“We want to make Montgomery Parks a skateboarding destination in Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic region while providing quality neighborhood amenities for local skaters,” said Christie Ciabotti, project manager for the skate park study. “Input from skate park users–including survey data–will help us build the best skate parks possible.”
Per Montgomery County: A series of Summer Shady Hikes organized by Montgomery Parks will help people stay active in August, despite the heat. The hikes will be especially geared to help beginning hikers. The three hikes in August, designed for ages 8-and-older, wlll take place from 6-7 p.m.
The upcoming Summer Shady Hikes schedule:
Montgomery Parks and the Montgomery Parks Foundation are making summer camp dreams come true for 34 local children and teens by awarding them the Marye Wells-Harley Dream Camp scholarship. The scholarship is funded by donations and provides one week of camp tuition to young people ages 3-18 whose families need financial assistance. The 34 scholarships awarded this summer represent the largest number granted since the program started in 2018.
“This record number of awardees means that we are getting the word out to the people that need the services,” said former Planning Board member Marye Wells-Harley. “Summer camp is an opportunity for children to explore, learn, meet new people, and have fun in a safe and secure environment. And it also gives mom and dad a little break during summertime.” The scholarship fund was created to honor Marye Wells-Harley’s commitment to young people and parks and recreation. She is a former member of the Montgomery County Planning Board and a retired director of the Prince George’s County Department of Parks and Recreation.
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Warner Circle Park will remain a public park managed by Montgomery Parks.
Montgomery Parks, in conjunction with Montgomery County Government, has entered into an agreement to transfer the historic Circle Manor and Carriage House at Warner Circle Park to Washington Landmark Construction (WLC) to develop seventeen residential condominiums. The Historic Preservation Commission recently approved the proposed work as described in the Historic Area Work Permit. WLC is now working to complete the design documents and obtain all necessary permits.
The oldest white oak tree in Montgomery County will be removed next week, according to a press release by Montgomery Parks. Montgomery Parks will be taking down the historic Linden Oak tree because it is in declining health on Tuesday, July 18, 2023 at 8:30 a.m. (Date subject to change based on weather conditions.)
The usable wood from the tree will be taken to nearby Ken-Gar Local Park where a chainsaw artist will carve it into a sculpture. The trunk of the Linden Oak will remain in place, along with two existing memorial plaques. One plaque commemorates the Linden Oak being named a Bicentennial Tree in 1976, for surviving the American Revolution. The other plaque recognizes the efforts of local citizens to save the tree from destruction during Metro construction in the 1970s.
Montgomery Parks aims to inspire a new generation of environmental stewards during Latino Conservation Week. Activities planned in Parks July 15-23, 2023.
Montgomery Parks is celebrating the tenth annual Latino Conservation Week July 15-23, 2023, with events and programs to support the Latino community in getting outdoors and participating in activities to protect our natural resources. Latino Conservation Week was started by the Hispanic Access Foundation to connect Latino communities with access to outdoor recreation and conservation education. More than 200 events are planned nationwide to inspire the next generation of environmental stewards. Montgomery Parks has several free events planned for adults and children. All events will be conducted in Spanish and English:
On July 1, 2023, Montgomery Parks was recognized with a proclamation from the Governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, for Park and Recreation Month acknowledging the important role that parks and recreation play for communities throughout Montgomery County. Read the proclamation (can also be seen below).
Per Montgomery County: The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) has awarded The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) an $18.5 million RAISE grant to fund the rehabilitation of multi-use paths to fill gaps in the Capital Trails Network. The Capital Trails Network is a plan developed by local jurisdictions, the National Park Service and trail advocacy organizations, to connect 990 miles of trail between Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Two Montgomery County trails will be among the five that will benefit from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) money. Those are the Northwest Branch Trail and the Sligo Creek Trail.
The funds will be used in Montgomery to: