Complex's 'central park' to include lake

June 9, 1999

Complex's 'central park' to include lake

by JoAnn Grbach
Staff Writer

The Maryland Soccer Foundation unveiled its design plans last Thursday for the Montgomery County Planning Board, detailing a "central park" to house the non-soccer uses for South Germantown Recreational Park.

Designers hope to create a park-like setting for the 24-field soccer complex with 42 acres in the middle of the site. The central park is designed for other recreation uses such as indoor tennis courts, a pool and a miniature golf course.

The central park will also house a pond, which will accomplish two goals -- as a scenic amenity and as a stormwater management system.

The park is set to include a series of walkways and paths that would encourage people to walk rather than drive to different recreation points.

Designs for the "central park" also provide for a lake for fishing and for launching model boats, a "wet meadow" similar to one at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, a splash park, a miniature golf course with water features and an open area named "Prospect Hill" to give visitors an overview of the park.

"I think that the character of this site really breeds from the kind of attention to detail you've given this facility," said William Hussmann, chairman of the planning board.

The board did not have to approve the plans. The foundation was only giving a progress report.

One possibility developers announced last week was combining the indoor aquatic center and the indoor tennis courts into one building, saying it would be a way of "improving the quality of both facilities."

"You're not going to take these buildings and hide them," said Jeff Griffin, project manager for the foundation, the nonprofit group formed to represent youth soccer interests.

A selection committee is now working to find the best location for the swim center in Germantown.

Two questions about the designs came about last week from planning board members. Davis Richardson questioned the varieties of plants and trees to landscape the park.

"It would be a shame if you just go out and put run-of -the- mill trees out here," he said.

The county will spend about $500,000 on landscaping. Specific plans for the types of trees and plants will likely come before the board next month.

Richardson also questioned the proposal to drill a well to maintain the pond.

"I thought we were going to try our best to maintain these ponds au natural," said Richardson, a board member whose term ends this month. "If you can get natural drainage, it's 10 times better than to support it ... and pump water into it just to keep something good-looking."

But Hussmann said that while the county stipulated groundwater could not be used to irrigate soccer fields, it did allow for one well to maintain the three-acre pond.

"This was part of our presentation to the council ... it was approved," Hussmann said. "People objected to it and we advocated for it and it was approved."

Before work begins on the central park, developers will first relocate a baseball field, now located where future soccer fields will be built, to ensure area baseball teams do not lose use of a field during construction. Like soccer enthusiasts, many baseball leagues have complained about a lack of fields in the upcounty, which led officials to require that baseball fields could not be lost during soccer construction.

The first phase will also include relocating a model airpark on the site to a location outside South Germantown park. A public meeting on that will be held 8 p.m. June 16 at Seneca Lodge in Boyds.

The 24-field complex will be built in three phases with 17 fields, a championship field and the indoor arena coming first.

The 66,000-square-foot indoor arena will be built with galvanized steel and glass. The building will consist of weathered wood, shiny steel and green tinted glass.

As details about the complex continue to emerge and officials work to approve the lease in a timely manner, the foundation is working on its fund-raising effort. The foundation has promised to raise $11 million to pay for the complex.

A list of corporate sponsors that will help support the large-scale soccer complex is expected to be announced this month, said Trisha Heffelfinger, spokeswoman for the foundation. Already John Hendricks, president and chief executive officer for Discovery Communications, has given $1 million of his own money. Hendricks was a driving force behind the idea for the soccer complex.

Discovery pledged $1 million in March. At the same time, Abe Pollin of the Washington Wizards, Capitals and Mystics sports teams, and John Clark of Bethesda-based Clark Construction also promised support.