County holds meeting to discuss potential recreation center on former Lakeforest Mall property

On Tuesday, Oct. 3, County Councilmembers Dawn Luedtke and Laurie-Anne Sayles hosted a Community Town Hall meeting to discuss and gather input for a potential, new county-run community/recreation center on the former Lakeforest Mall property, as part of the development of the site by WRS. The meeting was well attended, with a packed house of more than 100 community members of all ages. Several community leaders and representatives spoke, expressing the need for a facility that caters to area youth.

Councilmember Sayles emphasized that if the center came to fruition, it would be an all-ages facility. Councilmember Luedtke noted that the meeting was the starting point in the conversation of a long process. The councilmembers were interested in working with the community, assessing interest in a project such as this and its potential uses, and coordinating with the developer on the feasibility of the project. It was relayed that Montgomery County Department of General Services would be responsible for building the project, but it was currently not in the county budget or Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). It was estimated that a “state-of-the-art” facility would cost upwards of $50 million and would certainly not happen overnight.

Montgomery County Recreation Director Robin Riley said a project like this would take a long time to complete, with many planning steps that would need to be followed. Riley noted the 6-year outlook on the CIP process is designed to take into account present and future needs. Current CIP conditions, limited resources and inflationary pressure would contribute to this being a long-term project. Riley said that a focus should be placed on all-ages programming as well.

Advocates for the potential project, including 480 Club Founder Joseph Hooks and Montgomery Village Middle School Principal Roy Liburd, expressed a need for safe places for youth to go after school as a major driving factor for a facility in this area. Residents of Cider Mill Apartments said they would like close amenities with low- or no-cost programming.

City of Gaithersburg Councilmember Jim McNulty added some background for the Lakeforest property development process. He said WRS was currently forming a sketch plan which would incorporate details such as specific types of businesses or uses for the site. The plan currently sets aside 30,000 square feet for “civic space.” However, the specific use is not determined. The developer would need to agree to the use of this space with their plan, including the potential county facility.

Participants were given the opportunity to break into groups and collaborate on uses and programming they would like to see represented if the facility were to be built. This would help the county determine the best use for the center and scope of work involved. Recreation and sports activities, career readiness programs and drop-in availability topped the lists written by participants. During the open question-and-answer portion of the meeting, transportation to the site, safety, lighting and walkability were cited as concerns for the proposed facility.

Residents were encouraged to continue to provide feedback about this potential project to Montgomery County leaders via an online survey found at https://mcgmd.wufoo.com/forms/z1mxljht0cfenrj/.