County Considers Shutting Costly Recreation Centers

Five Sites on List of Potential Closings

Montgomery is evaluating the use of recreation centers at neighborhood parks, such as Silver Spring's Sligo Dennis Avenue Local Park, top, where Alexa Otano, above left, and Elizabeth Olaiya attend day camp. (Photos By Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)

Montgomery County park officials are rethinking the role of recreation centers in community life, and this month released a draft proposal calling for the potential shuttering of five buildings in neighborhood parks.

Under the plan, recreation buildings in the Hillandale, Randolph Hills, Garrett Park, Clarksburg and Camp Seneca parks could be demolished or have their ownership transferred to other agencies.

Officials were quick to note, however, that a series of public hearings will be scheduled in the fall before a final decision is made, most likely in November.

Officials from the Montgomery County Department of Parks received funding from the Montgomery County Council last year to undertake a review of 31 recreation buildings and nine other structures to determine how often they are used and whether it makes economic sense to keep them open.

Although residents pay to use the buildings, the agency lost about $214,830 on the structures, which were used about 26 percent of the time they were available.

The study was the first review of building usage since 1984, and the only time officials have examined the physical condition of the recreation centers, many of which were built in the 1950s and 1960s. The review is part of a larger effort that began in 2005 to study the county's infrastructure. A few decades ago, the recreation buildings were popular places for birthday parties, celebrations and community meetings. But today, residents have more choices of places to celebrate special occasions or gather for meetings, said Mark Wallis, a senior park planner with the Montgomery County Department of Parks who is overseeing the review. Residents also can rent space at the county's larger community centers, which offer a number of activities as well as game rooms and exercise and weight rooms.

"The question is, 'Where is the world going?' " Wallis said. "Some people prefer to rent out a bowling alley, roller rink or movie theater, where [staff members do] all the work. Now, there are more choices and opportunities for people to do things. So that's what we're trying to figure out: What is the market for these buildings today and for the future?''

A tour of some of the buildings on a recent afternoon demonstrated the diverse uses of the properties.

The recreation building at Sligo-Dennis Avenue Local Park in Silver Spring was crowded with groups of preteens attending a summer day camp sponsored by the county's recreation department. In one corner, girls were decorating paper airplanes with googly eyes and colored foam shapes. At another table, two boys were playing the card game "speed" while others watched.

A few miles away, employees from the Food and Drug Administration had rented the center at Meadowbrook park (Candy Cane City) in Chevy Chase for a company outing. The single-story structure, which has two stone fireplaces and a stone-paved covered patio, was built in the 1930s and is among the oldest and most popular of the centers, Wallis said.

Under the tentative proposal, six buildings would remain open and be improved because of a high level of use. They are in the Glenmont, Indian Springs, Kemp Mill Estates, Meadowbrook, Norbeck-Muncaster and Tilden Woods neighborhood parks. The report said 18 additional buildings should be "evaluated and marketed" for a three-year period to see whether residents might use the centers if they knew more about them.

"What we don't know is whether these buildings are not being used because folks don't know about them or whether it's something else,'' Wallis said. "We want to see if there is a market for these buildings.''