With news of Discovery's departure from Silver Spring, there has been much speculation about what will happen to the Discovery building and site. And with past issues surrounding the construction of the Silver Spring Transit Center across the street, there had been much attention paid to that project. And now with the start of Purple Line construction in the same vicinity there has been steady news coverage about that project.
But surrounding all of these big projects and news-making headlines is a long-delayed smaller project that has gotten too little attention and seems all but forgotten: the Gene Lynch Urban Park. Though hopefully that is about to change.
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| View of the "jug handle" or "WMATA tip" - future Gene Lynch Urban Park. |
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| Aerial view of Transit Center, Discovery site, and unfinished (not started) Gene Lynch Urban Park. |
In 2008, there was some parkland "musical chairs" in downtown Silver Spring. At the time, existing Metro Urban Park was displaced to make room for the Silver Spring Transit Center. In exchange, two new replacement parks --- the Transit Plaza Easement and Gene Lynch Park -- were supposed to be built in the area "concurrently" with the construction of the Transit Center. It was determined that even though the replacement parks would be smaller than the Metro Urban Park, they were to be nicer ("the highest quality.")
Gene Lynch Urban Park was supposed to be complete in 2011.
It is now 2018 (UPDATE* it is now 2022!). SO WHAT HAPPENED?....
Montgomery Planning Board: 2008 Gene Lynch Park / Transit Center
Many people are at least somewhat familiar with the fiasco that was the construction of the Silver Spring Transit Center. It has become an example of what can go wrong with projects - extended delays, spiraling costs, problems with construction materials, issues with management and contractors, and lawsuits. The Transit Center was supposed to be completed in 2010, then 2011, then 2013, and then it did not finally open until 2015. The adjacent Transit Center Plaza Easement was completed as it is a main access point to the center. Gene Lynch Urban Park was not.
Washingtonian article: 2015 A Timeline of Failure of the Silver Spring Transit Center
ACT: Timeline of Silver Spring Transit Center Delays
The current condition and location of the future park is a bare concrete "pizza slice" with little tree canopy, extensive impervious surface, no activation of the public space, and it contributes to the urban heat island in the area. It has lots of pedestrians but is not exactly a pleasant block to walk along. The construction of the promised replacement park would change that.
In 2014, there was a series of workshops about place-making in Silver Spring. The Gene Lynch Park was identified and discussed; but still it was not completed as intended. Part of the potential nearby "active park" across the street next to the Transit Center will now be the site of the Purple Line elevated tracks and station - and it is unclear if the remaining land will ever be implemented into a real park. The nearby "passive park" by Discovery has often been criticized for being designed to appear private. Gene Lynch Urban Park was to be an "urban garden" in an area with little green.
Montgomery Planning document: Silver Spring Placemaking
The Gene Lynch Urban Park project construction was slated to finally start in Spring 2018 and was supposed to be completed in Fall 2018. Seven years after it was supposed to be finished, it may finally come to be (UPDATE* Fourteen years after it was approved and eleven years after it was supposed to be finished, it will finally be!). It will transform the bare "jug handle" into a needed "slice of green" in an area that already has too little green and will finally make good on the agreement with WMATA to replace the parkland that was lost in the area.
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| Design in 2008. |
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| Design in 2018. |
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| Tribute to Gene Lynch to be included in the park design. |
Another transformed "slice" - Veterans Right-of-Way (aka Park) in Bethesda was expanded many years ago and has been a success. As our urban areas grow and develop, they also need more green areas.
