Soak up the green now, because downtown’s Turf will be gone before summer’s end, officials say.
The grass carpet covering the corner of Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street hits the trash heap by the end of August, to coincide with the reopening of MoCo public schools, regional director Gary Stith told The Penguin.
Stith and other local officials were on the Turf Friday evening to celebrate its demise, or to honor its contribution to the community, depending on how you look at it. Two weeks ago, a project replacing the Turf with a veterans plaza received an extra $2.5 million from the county council to cover construction costs.
The AstroTurf was rolled out more than two years ago to cover what was a gravel-strewn lot. It was meant to be a temporary patch until construction on the hardscaped plaza could begin.
Soon, the Turf became a popular hangout for teens and families, as well as the bane of downtown business owners, who believed the planned plaza would be a better draw.
Despite some calls to keep the turf, the county decided last summer to proceed with its plans to build the plaza, veterans memorial, seasonal ice rink and pavilion. A groundbreaking ceremony for the civic center and veterans plaza is planned for mid September, Stith said Friday.
Lead photo: Gary Stith (left), director of Silver Spring’s regional center, yucks it up at Friday evening’s “Sign of the Times” event on the Turf. Credit: Ron Pace/SSP.
Update: While the Centers for Disease Control reports that artificial turfs containing nylon do generate lead dust, Gary Stith, of Silver Spring’s regional center, says the Turf on Ellsworth Drive does not have lead. This story’s reference to it has been deleted. — JD (Jul 28, 2008)
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I’m curious about the construction timetable. If the groundbreaking is set for September, when might we expect the ribbon-cutting after all is finished?
The construction of the Civic Building and Veterans Plaza with take 14 to 16 months which will put it in late fall of 2009.
As to the lead contamination, this problem is only in artificial turf that contains nylon. The turf at Ellsworth and Fenton does not contain lead.
Editor’s note: Gary Stith is director of Silver Spring’s regional center. — JD (Jul 28, 2008)
This so sucks. This huge unstructured area is the most effective public space in the entire area, and the planners haven’t learned a thing from all the little concrete slabs with seating that dot this town, so useless and uninviting to actual people.
I’m so glad to see it go. When I first moved here, I couldn’t figure out for the life of my why there was this crappy looking matted down pretend grass in the middle of the thriving business center. If it was real grass, that would be fantastic. But I watch people like… walk their dogs on it and then other kids roll around in it, and… It just never made any sense to me, I’m so glad for the sake of the community that it was only temporary and that something will be going in soon.
I can’t wait till we get our new town square, but I hope they tweak the final design with some of the lessons that made the Turf so popular with everyone.
1 – The proposed grassy slope on the northern edge will visually cut off the view of the stores (Z-Pizza, etc.) from the Plaza, so when you look out from the Plaza you will see the Parking elevation, and not the animated (peopled) sidewalk of Ellsworth. This is problematic on many levels (haha). From Jane Jacobs to the New Urbanists, “eyes on the street” is the way to ensure vitality and safety. So maybe they could lower the plaza a bit.
2 – The surface material of the Turf is strangley inviting. I can’t stand any artificial materials, but can you think of concrete being as inviting? There has been a mention of brick as the surface. Hurray!!! The most succesfull public space in Italy (and that’s saying something) is in Sienna and it is entirely covered with brick. I don’t know if it’s the texture and/or color, but people don’t hesitate to plunk their butts’ on it, which is exactly what people like about the Turf. It would also deter the skateboard rats from annexing the space. So stick to the brick.
3 – The ice skating rink has the possibility of ruining the reading of the space by the way it is haphazzardly placed at some arbitrary angle. I know it makes for a cool modernist looking plan, but we live in 3-d, not in some slick architect’s portfolio, so maybe it could be centered on the top (Fenton) portion of the plaza. This would leave a clean shaped space between it and the Civic Center and would also “announce” the space better as one approached from Fenton and Ellsworth.
Personally, I would put a big fountain there and trees mirroring the ones off Ellsworth, but I’m quibling. I can’t wait till this moves forward, warts and all.
The Big Green may not be terribly sanitary, but certainly people must have noticed how used it really is. Will anyone just lie down on that new plaza? Kick a ball around with their kids? Play a little hackeysack? No. Of course not. They will either conform to the behavioral expectations of the designers – which is unlikely – or they will quite simply stop inhabiting that space altogether, and we will lose one of the very few instances where serendipity actually permitted a little bit of impromptu local culture.
You know, I can go along with the majority of the design, but an ICE RINK. We’re in Maryland, people. It just seems like they are dedicating a good bit of public space to something that’s not useful much of the year and only appeals to a small subset of people. My other concern is the concrete/terracotta plaza. Given experiences in the area, this is likely to turn into a nice place for homeless and downtrodden folks.
Responses to various posts within:
1. View of Parking Garage Facade: Given the slope of the site and adjacent Ellsworth, there is no way that the plaza could be lowered to accomodate a level view of both Fenton AND Ellsworth without multiple level changes. The most prominent view from the site is looking up Ellsworth with Discovery looming in the background and the planners wisely exploited this.
2. Sienna, Italy Piazza: The reason people sit on the bricks is that this is what they have always known and experienced with this piazza. It is surrounded by charming old buildings and a lively street scene. In Silver Spring, we have no history so there is the typical resistance to change that is human nature. Most people cannot visualize what this facility will actually feel like once it is built and has “grown in” (trees) and don’t like when someone moves their cheese.
3. Ice Skating Rink: this facility has been designed for a multitude of uses in the off-seasons so it’s not just a one trick pony.
All: people, give it a chance. If the county plays it’s cards right and animates this plaza with events & activities it will be a fantastic gathering place for the community, though no solution will please everyone.
What worries me is that the ice skating rink in Bethesda closed due to lack of use.
The Sienna Piazza is a slopped surface, so maybe this Plazza can be slopped to, but the visual disconnect from the Plaza to it’s surrounding street life will be a problem anyway you cut it. And no slice on the planners but people don’t stare blanky at what is deemed “the view” but rather look around dynamically, so again, 2-D trumps 3-D.
The Turf proves you don’t have to have charming old buildings but rather visibility, so why trash what works.
Finally, the ice skating rink might be fine, but if the Bethesda rink failed, why not get the Sculpture Garden (off the Mall) fountain/rink combo and guarantee success.
And, “Silver Spring has no history?” Don’t tell the Silver Spring Historical Society.
I’m sure it will all be fine, but these are no brainers.
Just a note… it’s been there more than 3 years actually… because i’m just about to hit my 3 years mark in downtown and it’s been in dtss as long as i have
Ya know.. after reading through everyone elses thoughts here.. one of my own… Maybe the civic center will serve a needed purpose, maybe it will fullfil some void in DTSS…. but even so… I just wish that the county would recognize that it’s a DIFFERENT void than the one that the turf is filling. And that now that it’s been a part of DTSS for 3 years, they are actually taking something AWAY from the community – even if it was accidently put there in the first place. I’m not saying don’t build the civic center, but at least recognize that the turf made quite apparent a need for open space in a vibrant downtown setting. Now that construction is beginning – perhaps the county needs to figure out how it’s going to replace what it’s taking away. Because whatever purpose the civic center and concrete plaza serve, it’s different from that which the turf was serving.
When I said Silver Spring has no history, I meant the immediate surrounding area, the civic building and the plaza itself. All the public knows about that area is “the turf” so any change will be troubling to some.