Birchmere May Branch Into Silver Spring

The voices of artists such as Lyle Lovett and Emmylou Harris could eventually be heard in Silver Spring if Montgomery County officials are successful in finalizing a partnership announced yesterday to open a Birchmere music hall on the Maryland side of the Potomac.

County and state leaders said they were committed to providing taxpayer money to create a second Birchmere -- the original has long attracted crowds to Alexandria -- on a renovated department store site in downtown Silver Spring. Under the outlines of the deal, the county and the state would each provide $4 million over two years to build the music hall behind the historic art deco facade of the former J.C. Penney building on Colesville Road at Fenton Street.

Montgomery Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D), a leading force behind Silver Spring's makeover in recent years, called live music the "missing piece" that would enhance other public investments in the AFI Silver Theatre and the Round House Theatre.

"Residents of Silver Spring have been working towards building a vibrant cultural downtown environment," Duncan wrote in his request for money from the County Council. "This second Birchmere location would be one of the final steps to making that vision a reality."

The Lee Development Group Inc. would donate about 9,000 square feet of land to the county, and the Birchmere would make a "significant investment" in addition to leasing the building from the county, officials said. Council President George L. Leventhal (D-At Large) said yesterday, "There is no question the council will approve this."

Henry Fawell, a spokesman for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), said "the governor sees this as a tremendous project" and is committed to providing the state's share of the funding.

Discussions began more than four years ago about the possibility of re-creating the 500-seat Alexandria venue in Silver Spring. In the past six months, a group of residents has revived the issue, pressuring policymakers through their Web site, Silver Spring Forward.

"People are starving for this kind of entertainment," said Dan Cohen, who helped create the citizens' group. But he said, "this isn't just about the Birchmere -- this is about an economic shot in the arm for downtown Silver Spring."

As of this month, the group had collected more than 1,200 "expressions of support" through a petition, posted hundreds of e-mails from backers throughout the Washington region and gathered pledges from candidates for governor, county executive and council.

Birchmere owners said they were interested in the Silver Spring location because of the distinct markets on either side of the Potomac created by the region's traffic patterns. As the Washington area has grown, Birchmere partner Jim Matthews said, it has become increasingly difficult for Marylanders to get to Alexandria during rush hour for a weeknight show.

"We've been deluged with requests to open a club in Maryland," he said.

David Eisner, who puts on a series of folk music shows in Rockville, agreed. He also drew a distinction between existing bars and clubs that feature live music and what he said is the Birchmere's small concert-hall atmosphere, where a seated audience can be served food and drink.

"There's a huge demand for a true listening club," said Eisner, who promotes folk music through the Institute of Musical Traditions.

Birchmere owners said in a statement yesterday that they expect to open in 2009, though negotiations are still being finalized.

"We're willing to go down this path with the county, but we have to get some guidance, guarantees and help," said Bruce H. Lee, president of the Lee Development Group. His company is backing the project in the hope that the Birchmere will have a "Broadway effect that will really animate the other side of [Colesville Road], which desperately needs it."

Donald Zuchelli, a development consultant who has advised the Montgomery council, said spending taxpayer money on such projects is not appropriate in every location.

In the case of downtown Silver Spring, he said, there is a clear public benefit that would add to the mix of theaters and restaurants that are already attracting high-income families, young couples and seniors. He says they are "totally turning around the inner-city portions of our better cosmopolitan markets nationwide."