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Like the Birchmere -- But in Maryland
The New Orleans band the Iguanas performs at the Birchmere Music Hall in Alexandria. Some residents aim to get a sister venue opened in Silver Spring.
(By Rich Lipski -- The Washington Post)
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"It's the cart before the horse," Lee said. "We don't have a project at this time and to have the amenity" -- the Birchmere -- "come first is quite complicated."
Still, he believes there is an enormous audience waiting to be tapped. Silver Spring has come a long way.
He points out the recent Silver Spring Jazz Festival in September, he said. Wynton Marsalis and a host of other musicians performed for audiences in and around Fenton Street and Ellsworth Avenue, the heart of Silver Spring. Thousands came.
"It was just unreal," Lee said of the event. "I honestly felt like I had my first born. It was well managed; everything went smoothly."
David Edgerley, director of the Montgomery County Economic Development Corp., also would like to see the Birchmere in Silver Spring, but with construction and land prices rising sharply, he said a lot of details must be worked out. In recent years, the Round House Theatre and AFI Silver Theatre opened in downtown Silver Spring with some public funding.
Oelze worries that there might be "arts fatigue" in Montgomery County with the recent investment in other arts venues. But a Birchmere in Silver Spring would be a "home run," he said. And with a new county administration could come renewed interest in the project.
"We've had some indication that some potential new administration [would] like to see the thing get back on the burner."
"It's all in the county's lap right now," Oelze said.
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