Silver Spring Group Has Plan For Birchmere

Sister Venue Would Open In Old J.C. Penney Store

What if country singer Rosanne Cash, folk rocker Billy Bragg or a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock regularly performed not only at the nationally known Birchmere Music Hall in Alexandria, but also at a sister venue in Maryland?

What if that venue were located across from the Round House Theatre and the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, creating a "Broadway effect" along Colesville Road at the northern edge of downtown Silver Spring?

If they get their way, a few Silver Spring activists hope to use election-year momentum to carry forward a plan for renovating the site of an old JCPenney store to make way for a second Birchmere.

"It would complete the entertainment scene that we've got, and it would help bolster Silver Spring's reputation," said Michael Diegel, a civic activist and founder of Silver Spring Forward, a citizens group he and a couple of neighbors created last month to help push the Birchmere idea.

The Birchmere, a thriving 500-seat venue in Alexandria, has hosted big names in rock, jazz, blues, bluegrass, country and folk music for 40 years and has a loyal Maryland following.

But some Marylanders find it tough to make the across-the-river trek, particularly on weeknights for the Birchmere's 7:30 shows. "On some days it takes just as long to get from Alexandria to Richmond as it does to get to Silver Spring," said Birchmere owner Gary Oelze.

Shortly after the idea surfaced in 2003, county officials suggested using the vacant JCPenney property in Silver Spring, owned by Lee Development Group Inc. Birchmere owners were interested, especially since Silver Spring was poised at the time for major revitalization.

Oelze and other Birchmere owners proposed a public-private partnership that has since lain dormant as focus shifted to the completion of other county-funded arts venues, such as the $100 million Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda.

Until, that is, Silver Spring Forward brought the issue back onto the table.

Diegel's group has received support, including letters from two Democratic candidates for Montgomery County executive, Council member Steven A. Silverman (D-At Large) and former member Isiah "Ike" Leggett. Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D), who is running for governor, said he also supports public involvement in the project.

Other backers include Bruce H. Lee, president of Lee Development Group, which owns several Silver Spring properties besides the proposed site for the Birchmere.

It's way too early to tell what's going to happen, Lee said. Under any plan, the Birchmere would be an amenity that comes with an as-yet-undefined development of the two-acre JCPenney site, which is zoned for commercial, residential or office space.