Loss of Identity Feared if Rec Centers Close

Consultants hired by the Montgomery Department of Parks to evaluate the condition of 31 recreation buildings across the county had concluded it would be cheaper to get rid of a few than repair them.

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The five targeted for demolition or transfer to another county agency are Randoph Hills in North Bethesda, Hillandale in Silver Spring, Garrett Park Estates near Strathmore, Clarksburg and Camp Seneca in Boyds. A sixth, in Bethesda's Norwood Local Park, is being evaluated for possible historic preservation.

Mark Wallis, a senior planner with the Parks Department, said the buildings were targeted for several reasons. Some are near other centers that serve similar functions. It would cost more to repair the Randolph Hills, Hillandale and Garrett Park buildings than they're worth.

Also, many of the centers are losing money, he said. Last year, the agency lost $214,830 on the buildings, which are rented out. Use of the targeted buildings during the time they were available ranged from 7 percent at Randolph Hills to 23 percent at Clarksburg. The average for all recreation centers was about 26 percent.

But officials are listening to neighbors, he said. The Parks Department, which had planned to decide on the buildings' fates next month, has pushed the final call into spring to allow for more public input. Officials are meeting with civic associations and have scheduled a hearing Tuesday at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton for anyone worried about the issue.

Addressing the fierce reaction, Wallis said proposals are presented, "then you see what happens."

The Randolph Hills center, a pale yellow building beneath a trio of tall pines in Randolph Local Park, has mildew stains on its exterior and cracks in its brick siding. "Fixer-upper with loads of potential" would be putting it kindly.

But over the past half-century, the building has carved out an identity as the neighborhood's town hall.

"It's where we meet, where we have our community picnics," said Richard Zierdt, past president of the Randolph Civic Association, which used to meet at the center once a month.

Over the summer, when association representatives went to pay their fees and pick up the key for another season of meetings, parks officials told them that they'd have to find a new site. Randolph Hills' unofficial town hall had been shut down, and officials were recommending it be demolished, said civic association President Mike Saunders.

"The idea that the county's Parks Department would come along, take our town hall out and not replace it with anything is revolting to us. All they are looking at is money in and money out," Saunders said. The civic association now meets at the Viers Mill recreation center, but members say it's not the same.

Elsewhere, residents are preparing for a fight to save the building that houses their nursery school.