DATE: February 5, 2003
Public Invited to Preliminary Look at City’s Future Downtown At Wednesday, Feb. 19, Meeting at Fitzgerald Theatre
ROCKVILLE, Md., Feb. 5, 2003—Rockville will unveil the draft design guidelines that will provide a detailed look at the City’s future Town Center, and the new Rockville Regional Library that will be the downtown focal point, at a public meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre in Rockville Civic Center Park.
The draft design guidelines to be presented will include sketches, architectural concepts and street and sidewalk plans, building upon the design guidelines that were part of the Town Center Master Plan. The draft design guidelines are an integral part of the project because once the final guidelines are approved, private developers will be required to build their various projects according to the guidelines.
“This is an important step for this City,” said Mayor Larry Giammo. “There have been many people asking questions and wondering what the new Town Center will include and how it will look. This presentation paints a much clearer picture of what we foresee as the future of Rockville. We want the input of our residents in building Town Center and this gives people a chance to comment on tangible designs.”
The draft design guidelines will include schematics of building and street plans for the area to be developed that is bordered by Beall Avenue on the north; Middle Lane on the south; North Washington Street on the west and Maryland Route 355 on the east.
After the draft design guidelines are approved, architects will prepare final designs for each building. Those final designs will then follow the City’s development review process.
It is intended that construction on the library and the first parking garage will begin in late 2003 and those structures will be completed by late 2005.
The presentation will be made by representatives from Street-Works LLC, the urban planners who prepared the draft design guidelines, and architects from Grimm & Parker, designers of the new library. Rockville’s Mayor and Council and staff members of the City of Rockville and Montgomery County also will be available.
The draft guidelines were prepared by representatives of the City, Montgomery County, Street-Works and Federal Realty Investment Trust. In addition to the look of building appearances, the guidelines addressed how the town square will be used for special events such as the Memorial Day Hometown Holidays celebration and as host of the summer Farmers’ Market.
The new Town Center will include a mix of retail, restaurant, entertainment, residential and office uses. A town square will be included in the design, along with wide sidewalks that will encourage a pedestrian environment and outdoor cafes. The planned residential projects will include more than 480 apartments and more than 170 condominiums. Three public parking garages and one private garage, along with on-street parking, will create extensive parking to support the project.
It is expected that development of the first 15 acres of Town Center will require about $219 million in private investment (70 percent of the cost) and $97.5 million in public funding (30 percent of the cost). The public funding will be a combination of City of Rockville, Montgomery County, State of Maryland and federal contributions.
Further information on the draft design guidelines will be available at the presentation and from Rockville’s Department of Community Planning and Development Services at City Hall.
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