The public is invited to enjoy local food, arts, music, kids’ activities and a fitness zone within a pop-up park built by the community
SILVER SPRING, MD –The Montgomery County Planning Department and Montgomery Parks, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), are co-hosting a special initiative to reimagine part of the Randolph Hills Shopping Center as a lively, dynamic public space and park. The White Flint Placemaking Festival will be held on Saturday, October 13 from 4 to 9 p.m. and on Sunday, October 14 from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Randolph Hills Shopping Center (4921 Wyaconda Road, Rockville, MD).
“The event celebrates efforts by residents and local businesses in the White Flint area to create a place where they can gather and enjoy activities,” says Planning Director Gwen Wright. “It is part of a larger placemaking initiative to transform public spaces through partnerships with community members that will help enhance their neighborhoods and show local businesses what is possible through collaborative efforts.”
The Planning and Parks Departments are organizing the event in partnership with the Dallas-based Better Block Foundation, Randolph Civic Association of North Bethesda and AR Kronstadt Realty Investors of Rockville. Better Block is an internationally acclaimed urban design nonprofit that aims to educate, equip and empower communities and their leaders to reshape and promote the growth of healthy and vibrant neighborhoods.
About the White Flint Placemaking Festival:
Since May 2018, the Montgomery County Planning Department has been working with residents, local businesses and other stakeholders in the Randolph Hills neighborhood to reimagine a piece of the Randolph Hills Shopping Center as a public space. After months of weekly feedback calls, on-the-ground conversations and more than 100 survey responses, the team found that the community is looking for a beautiful, well-programmed green space with a neighborhood bar, coffee shop, local restaurants and activities for kids.
On October 13-14, that community vision will come to life.
For two days, an underutilized field of grass and a small portion of the parking lot at the Randolph Hills Shopping Center will be completely reimagined. With some elbow grease, landscaping and digitally fabricated furniture, planners, community members and volunteers will transform the space into a pop-up park with food, arts, children’s play areas and a fitness zone.
The event will offer a host of building and play activities for all ages and abilities. Local artists and makers will showcase their artistic talents. Local musicians will play throughout the two days, local restaurateurs will sell food and drinks, and local fitness businesses will host free classes for kids and adults.
About the Better Block Project:
The Better Block project in the Randolph Hills Shopping Center was undertaken to:
- Give the community an opportunity to realize its collective vision for the neighborhood.
- Demonstrate to the property owners and county agencies how recommendations in the White Flint 2 Sector Plan can be implemented.
- Engage local businesses, schools and community members in a dialogue about the role of public spaces within their community.
- Use temporary placemaking as a tool to gather data and help inform permanent designs for successful public spaces in the White Flint 2 Sector Plan area.
If you’re interested in being a part of the transformation, let us know! We’re looking for volunteers to roll up their sleeves and perhaps get a little paint on their shoes. The installation of the transformation begins Wednesday, October 10. Find out more about volunteering.
If you’re a local business with an idea for food or fun, and you want to take part, please contact the project managers listed below.
Atul Sharma at tel. 301-495-4658 or Atul.Sharma@montgomeryplanning.org.
Colin Amos at colin@betterblock.org.
About the Better Block Foundation:
The Better Block Foundation is a Dallas-based nonprofit that teaches citizens about placemaking principles on the neighborhood level. Placemaking is a people-centered approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. It involves looking at, listening to, and asking questions of the people who live, work and play in a particular place to discover needs and aspirations and using the feedback to create a common vision for that place. Placemaking can be used to improve streets, sidewalks, parks, buildings and other public space so they invite greater interaction between people and foster healthier, more social and economically viable communities. The Better Block Foundation helps facilitate this process by offering tools to educate and equip residents, stakeholders and government leaders, and enable them to reshape their communities into vibrant, sustainable places. For more information, visit betterblock.org. To check out Wikiblock, go to betterblock.org/wikiblock.