Evans Parkway Neighborhood Park wins Wintergreen Award for Excellence in Green Building; Germantown Town Center Urban Park wins the Built by Women competition.
SILVER SPRING, MD – Montgomery Parks, part of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission is being recognized for two of its newest parks—Evans Parkway Neighborhood Park in Silver Spring and Germantown Town Center Urban Park in Germantown.
Wintergreen Award for Excellence in Green Building
The focus of the park renovation project was the removal of an existing concrete storm water management channel and restoration of this area as a natural stream channel. The 7.3-acre park features interactive artwork, an iconic pedestrian bridge, rain gardens and sustainable landscaping. Evans Parkway Neighborhood Park has also achieved a three-star rating by the Sustainable Sites Initiatives (SITES), the first park in Maryland to receive such certification.Evans Parkway Neighborhood Park received the Wintergreen Award for Excellence in Green Building in the Neighborhood Project category. The Wintergreen awards sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council, Maryland Chapter, “celebrate, promote and recognize excellence in high performance, healthy design and building; environmental stewardship and community impact….”
Montgomery Parks Director Mike Riley said Evans Parkway Neighborhood Park will serve as a template to “redevelop sites in an extremely ecological sensitive and environmentally sensitive way.” Former director of Montgomery Parks, Mary Bradford, who envisioned the restored park and for whom the park is now dedicated, called the park a “wonderful marriage of nature and use.”
Built By Women Award
On February 1, 2016, the Germantown Town Center Urban Park was named a winner of the Built By Women competition (BxW) in the landscaping category. The BxW awards, sponsored by the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation, celebrate the contributions made by women to building design and construction in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. Washington, DC was the second city in which the competition was held, following New York City. A team of five women, including Montgomery Parks staff members Patricia McManus (Project Manager for facility planning) and Linda Komes (Landscape Architect), were recognized for their leadership in the design and development of the Germantown Center Urban Park project.
Originally, the four-acre site, located between the Germantown Library and a residential community, was predominantly wetlands, sloping landscapes and largely unusable by residents. “We reclaimed 1-1/2 acres,” explained Project Manager Patricia McManus, “by placing a large storm water management structure underground to capture about 25 acres of drainage area from Germantown.”
The urban park also features public artwork by local artist David Hess; intertwining pathways; open space for community events; a canted lawn with playful elements and lounge chairs. An exhibition of all of the BxW winners, including Germantown Town Center Urban Park, will be held at the National Building Museum on Saturday, March 19, and Sunday, March 20, 2016.
About the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Montgomery Parks
Montgomery Parks manages more than 37,000 acres of parkland, consisting of 417 parks. Montgomery Parks is a department of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), a bi-county agency established in 1927 to steward public land. The M-NCPPC has been nationally recognized for its high quality parks and recreation services and is regarded as a national model by other parks systems. www.MontgomeryParks.org
Accessibility:
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission encourages the involvement and participation of all individuals in the community, including those with disabilities, in the planning and review processes. In accordance with the requirements of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M?NCPPC) will not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability in its services, programs or activities. M?NCPPC works to make its facilities and materials accessible and to hold public meetings in locations that are, likewise, accessible. M?NCPPC will generally provide, upon request, appropriate aids and services and make reasonable modifications to policies and programs for qualified persons with disabilities (e.g., large print materials, listening devices, sign language interpretation, etc.). For assistance with such requests, please contact the M-NCPPC Montgomery County Commissioners’ Office, at least a week in advance, at (301) 495-4600 or at mcp-chair@mncppc-mc.org . Maryland residents can also use the free Maryland Relay Service for assistance with calls to or from hearing or speech-impaired persons; for information, go to www.mdrelay.org/ or call (866) 269-9006.
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