Council approves plans for $89M Strathmore project

by Scott Harris
Staff Writer for the Gazette Newspaper.

Neighbors vow to keep track of project

Strathmore Hall and county officials are celebrating this week after the County Council unanimously approved the proposed $89 million concert hall and education center in North Bethesda May 10.

Eliot Pfanstiehl, executive director of Strathmore Hall, said he felt gratified seeing the plan for the hall come to fruition.

"This has been a longtime dream of the Strathmore Hall Foundation," Pfanstiehl said. "To see this take shape, with a lot of hard work and fortunate timing, is a joy ... this will change Montgomery County's image for the better."

But the celebration does not come without the disappointment of residents opposed to the plan.

"I think they made a mistake," said Natalie Goldberg of the Coalition of Grosvenor Metro Communities, one of the most vocal opponents of the project. "I hope the economy stays this way."

While Councilman Blair G. Ewing (D-At large) of Silver Spring tried to persuade the council to shave $3 million from the project, the council rejected his move.

It instead agreed with the Health and Human Services Committee to cap the county's funding at $44.5 million, with the state paying for the remaining half. Strathmore officials will explore private funding to pay operating costs. The council also agreed with the committee that the county should consider bid options when seeking a contractor for construction. This would require contractors to offer plan variations so a balance can be found between cost and aesthetics.

County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, who has supported the project since it was proposed last year, said he was pleased by the decision.

"I think it's tremendous," he said. "...I think they were right to put a cap on the cost."

The 2,000-seat concert hall, scheduled to break ground in 2002, would be the first permanent home to such local groups as the Montgomery County Youth Orchestra and Masterworks Chorus and Orchestra, as well as host to about 30 performances a year by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, led by renowned Russian conductor Yuri Temirkanov. The accompanying arts center will offer private classes in areas such as dance and drama.

The council also approved by a 6-3 margin the $21 million, 1,500-space parking garage at nearby Grosvenor Metro station. Council members Ewing, Nancy H. Dacek (R-Dist. 2) of Darnestown and Marilyn J. Praisner (D-Dist. 4) of Silver Spring voted against the garage, which will be funded by the county but operated by the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority. Construction is scheduled for 2001.

A statement issued by the board of directors of nearby Parkside Condominium Association said the concert hall and education center is not a problem, but the garage is.

"We're disappointed that they went ahead with such a large garage," said Jane Lewin, a spokeswoman for the association's board of directors.

Despite her misgivings about the garage and concert hall plans, Dacek called the Strathmore Hall project a rare and promising chance for the county while acknowledging that it may not be ideal in everyone's eyes.

"I think this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," she said. "And we have to grab it, even if it is imperfect."

Issues such as increased traffic on Rockville Pike, the high cost and imposing size of the facilities and the lack of cohesiveness with the area's master plan are at the heart of the neighbors' opposition.

In addition, Goldberg said she felt some parts of the legislative process seemed hasty, particularly in the case of the garage.

"I don't think the process was fair," Goldberg said. "... I think they listened to us on the concert hall, but the garage was rushed through and they didn't really listen to us. ...The decision to build was motivated by the county executive and the governor and the state. It then became necessary for the county to fund it. They heard us, but they weren't willing to set themselves up for negative reaction from the state."

Ewing conceded that point, but said community concerns were taken into account throughout the process.

"Once the state made a commitment, we were in a situation where it would be almost impossible to do anything else other than [approve county funding]," he said. "[But] I wouldn't want anyone to think that we didn't take into account all concerns, because we have."

Duncan said the proposal should not be a cause for concern.

"Strathmore has always been planned," he said. "...It's a good plan. We're the largest jurisdiction in the state, and we deserve this kind of center in Montgomery County."

Goldberg said she and the coalition would continue to follow the progress of the concert hall and attempt to shape certain aspects of the project, including noise and pollution from construction, stormwater management, and pedestrian access to the Grosvenor Metro station.

Pfanstiehl said Strathmore officials acknowledge that they must answer to the county and work closely with residents because they are building the concert hall with public money.

"We recognize that we serve the interests of the entire county of 850,000 people, and they will be our customer base," he said. "There isn't a direction we can turn where we don't have to listen ... And we will create a community group to work with on an ongoing basis because they will always be our neighbors."