What started out as a community meeting to discuss MCPS' surprise plan to turn a park that includes dedicated Maryland Open Space land into a middle school has become a MCPS presentation.
The 6.65 acre Maryland Open Space land parcel at this park is shown in the yellow in the image.
In the light gray to the left of the soccer field is a community building, the Gwendolyn E. Coffield Community Center. The community building sits on a 6.35 acre parcel. That is where MCPS now says they will build an entire middle school, leaving the community center in place. Imagine a MCPS middle school the size of a soccer field...sharing a 6.35 parcel with a community center.
While they have assured the community that they will leave the Gwendolyn Coffield Community Center in place. It is clear from the map that Coffield Center will not survive. They are being dishonest with the public, but that is second nature for them. I hope that people will wake up and realize that they are being duped, and that the park and community center we all love will be gone. A school is NOT green space (as some have claimed) and school property is very restricted for use by the community. I remember an incident at North Chevy Chase Elementary when the police were called because some man was sunbathing on a hillside adjacent to the school. The school went into lock down mode, and a code blue? was announced, all because some poor guy was wearing a bathing suit on a lawn chair. My kids found it all very exciting.
ReplyDeleteI coach soccer for the YMCA and we use the field for practices. The boys I coach are neighborhood children who's families rely on the community center, including the fields to provide a safe place for their children to play after school. Many of these families have two working parents and without the community center and park these kids would lose access to affordable athletic programs, which keep them healthy and safe and surrounded by positive role models. I am starting a petition to preserve the land, which should be protected under Maryland Open Space. If anyone is interested in joining me in my efforts to protect the park please let me know.
ReplyDelete-Brie
Brie,
ReplyDeletePlease send us an e-mail at
contact@parentscoalitionmc.com
and we can put you in touch with neighbors who are planning a candle light vigil for the Park this evening.
The vote by the Board of Education is tomorrow (Thursday) evening.