Mayor Larry Giammo Testified Before General Assembly Committees on Saturday Seeking $1.5 Million for Downtown
ROCKVILLE, Md., March 21, 2005—Rockville Mayor Larry Giammo testified on Saturday before committees of the Maryland State Senate and the House of Delegates, urging the General Assembly to include $1.5 million in the FY 2006 state budget in continued support of the City’s redevelopment of its Town Center.
Mayor Giammo testified before a committee of the State Senate and a committee of the Maryland House of Delegates on March 19 to stress the City’s need for support of the estimated $352 million project that is a public/private partnership.
In speaking before the Senate’s Budget and Tax Committee on Senate Bill 935 and the House of Delegates’ Appropriation Committee on House Bill 1477, the Mayor updated the legislators on the progress of Phase I of Town Center. Construction began in the summer of 2004 on the development that will create a mix of residential, retail, restaurant, entertainment, office and cultural uses. The project also will be home to the new Rockville Regional Library, three public and one private parking garage that will provide more than 1,900 spaces and a public town plaza.
District 17 State Senator Jennie Forehand and District 17 Delegate Kumar Barve joined Mayor Giammo in supporting Rockville’s request for funds that would help build the public infrastructure of the Town Center.
Mayor Giammo also told the committees that the City hopes it can establish a new business incubator as part of the first phase of Town Center. Rockville Economic Development, Inc., the City’s independent business arm, has been working on details that could lead to formation of an incubator.
The General Assembly will finalize its FY 2006 budget in early April.
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