The Draw: An underground movement

By Brian Hefele | Nov 10, 2009
Illustration by Brian Hefele/SSP.

Illustration by Brian Hefele/SSP.

EDITORIAL — There’s been a debate regarding access to Silver Spring’s new library planned for Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street. Some want a pedestrian bridge to cross Wayne Avenue and connect the library with a nearby garage. Others argue that a sky bridge goes against contemporary urban design.

Silver Spring’s citizens advisory board reaffirmed their opposition to the bridge at its monthly meeting Monday night. Likewise, the county council voted in July not to change Silver Spring’s urban-renewal plan to permit the bridge’s construction. (more…)

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Leggett unveils design for new downtown library

By Jennifer Deseo | Oct 26, 2009
Photo: MoCo exec Leggett showed off designs for the new library Saturday. Credit: J. Deseo/SSP.

Photo: MoCo exec Leggett showed off designs for the new library Saturday. Credit: J. Deseo/SSP.

After months of public meetings and debate, MoCo exec Ike Leggett finally revealed exterior designs for downtown Silver Spring’s new library.

“This will be a monument to the community,” he declared Saturday at a book festival inside ye olde library on Colesville Road.

The glass and limestone building will sit at the southwest corner of Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street, with a section hanging over a possible Purple Line light rail station. Access to the library’s third floor entrance will be at either Wayne Avenue or along Fenton Street, where escalators and stairs will be installed. Sorry, trebuchet fans.

“We wanted this library to look snappy with pizzazz,” David Dise, director of the county’s general services department, told the 45 people packed into ye olde library’s large meeting room. The new joint would serve not only as a bookend (ha ha) to the Downtown Silver Spring development, but also as a gateway to the underdeveloped Fenton Village neighborhood, he explained. (more…)

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County council quashes foot bridge to new library

By Jennifer Deseo | Jul 28, 2009

ROCKVILLE — Start building those man-sized sling shots. The county council has rejected proposed changes to Silver Spring’s development plan that would allow a pedestrian bridge to be built between downtown’s new library and the Wayne Avenue garage. (more…)

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Library bridge comes up lame in committee vote

By Jennifer Deseo | Jul 22, 2009

ROCKVILLE — Members of two county council committees voted down the possibility of building a footbridge between Silver Spring’s new library and the Wayne Avenue garage.

If the issue is accessibility for disabled bookworms, then find a cheaper way to do it, members of the human services and economic development committees charged Tuesday afternoon. (more…)

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Architects pitch outdoor stairway to new library

By Jennifer Deseo | Jul 21, 2009
Image: They wanna build a what? Courtesy of Lukmire and Associates

Image: And she's buying a stairway ... (wait for it) ... to heaven. Courtesy of Lukmire and Associates.

Architects have bounced a few ideas around as to how people will reach the new library’s third-floor entrance: through a footbridge, up an escalator, via elevator only, whatever.

Now they’ve come up with this idea: a staircase that hangs along the building’s exterior. (more…)

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Architects picture park-like setting for proposed library bridge

By Jennifer Deseo | Jul 15, 2009
Image: Gotta admit it looks cool. But will it happen? Courtesy of Lukmire and Associates.

Image: Gotta admit it looks cool. But will it happen? Courtesy of Lukmire and Associates.

A footbridge between downtown’s new library and the Wayne Avenue garage can go from being a dull, utilitarian walkway to a slick, sky-high park, the project’s architects suggested. (more…)

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