MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Loss of Identity Feared if Rec Centers Close
Some View Sites As Historic Places, Community Hubs
Margaret F. Williams, left, Celestine Armstead, Edna M. Prather, Joann Woodson and Doris Hackey meet at the Clarksburg Recreation Center.
(By Katherine Frey -- The Washington Post)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Sure, the buildings aren't pretty or posh. But when Montgomery County officials started talking about tearing down or transferring to new management several aging neighborhood recreation centers, many of the residents who use them took it personally.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]One in Clarksburg was built by Wilson Wims, now 92, a member of a pioneering African American family. Another has become the unofficial town hall of the Randolph Hills community.
And one in Garrett Park Estates, moved there from Fort Meade, has a song, written by resident George Payne in the 1950s:
Of construction material we had a great need
We were given two barracks that stood at Fort Meade
And from Garrett Park came a very large crew
To take them both down in a weekend or two
They worked in snow on a wintry day
But that's just part of the Garrett Park way.
At a center in Bethesda under consideration for historic preservation, scientists tried to improve breeding and nutrition for chickens, cows and pigs.
Residents of the affected neighborhoods say a dollar value can't be put on the structures. With all the talk about nameless, faceless suburbs that lack a sense of community, they say, these recreation centers stand in contrast, bringing people together.
"We may be a nuclear-free zone, but it was like a bomb went off," said Garrett Park Mayor Carolyn Shawaker, recalling community reaction when news began to spread that its center was on the list.
Mobile
Email