Caroline Freeland Park at 7200 Arlington Road in downtown Bethesda has been closed since July for a renovation project. The project planning dates back an entire decade, but only moved forward this summer. What we're looking at here is mainly the end of the park near the Connie Morella Library. The current work appears to still be in the "demolition" phase. Caroline Freeland Park is anticipated to reopen to the public in the fall of 2024.
Outstanding. Apparently, among the first things for a park's "renovation" is having its trees cut down, to make way for more paved-over space.
ReplyDeleteNEVER miss an opportunity to despoil the landscape. Never
Our leaders decree you will like it.
ReplyDeleteJesus, conservatives here even whine about money being spent on park improvements. Of course they'd whine if the park equipment was left to rot, too. Just no matter what, government/politicians = bad.
ReplyDeleteIt's a hideous "upgrade". The trees and the wooden structures were a saving grace. The design resembles something that will be ugly and outdated ten years later.
ReplyDeleteI’m excited for the changes. The playground was nice for the kids but the rest of the park was left in shambles. I think a dog park would also go nicely there. The kids have a playground at the elementary school but no dog park for such a busy area.
DeleteOh hiii @10:31. In case your comment was directed at me, 11:52, I'll correct your math: I'm a card-carrying liberal/Democrat/progressive who, Jane Jacobs-like, believes that designation does not oblige me to embrace the ravaging of the community landscape in the name of "improvement." More concrete plus fewer trees does not equal progress. Sometimes, old, simple, and staid really is better, believe it or don't.
ReplyDeleteYes, all those new tables, benches, trees, plants, and lawn are going to be soooo 2025. I totally get why you people are losing your minds over this.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to know the community has stalwart guardians of tradition like you, @5:39, who give the appearance of not giving a fig about much of anything. You are just the sort of apathetic citizen the County Council and Planning Board hope to lord over more of. Let me guess: a recent transplant from the Midwest, now altogether full of himself for having landed a rental apartment proximal to the seat of the federal government? No? You will forgive me; your impression is flawless.
ReplyDeleteFrom this [fourth-generation] Washingtonian to an arriviste, I admit I do get upset when healthy full-sized canopy trees, which took many decades to reach maturity --longer than many of us have been alive, generally speaking-- are unnecessarily felled so junky little ornamental trees can be planted in their stead amidst ever broader swaths of concrete being laid down.
Fall of 2024? This is going to take them a year to build? The Empire State Building was built in 13.5 months.....in the 1930's.
ReplyDelete"Construction started on March 17, 1930, and the building opened thirteen and a half months afterward on May 1, 1931."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_State_Building
This is embarrassing.
The park did not need a renovation! And having another year (??) pass before it reopens is intolerable.
ReplyDeleteI thank Elrich there's no basketball courts.
ReplyDelete