Westbard Square adds new mural, padel pop-up court in Bethesda (Photos)

There are two new additions to Westbard Square in Bethesda this weekend, as the new development at 5400 Westbard Avenue holds an official Grand Opening event from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM today and Sunday. One is a mural painted onto the side of the Giant building above the loading docks. It features what appears to be a streetcar. Is this predictive programming for the not-so-secretly-planned extension of the Purple Line to Westbard? Or is it just a random image? Well, let's consider a third theory, that could make property owner Regency Centers look pretty smart, making another effort - as with the quarry stone facades at the development - to draw on local history and aesthetics.

The mural could be referring to the original 1891 streetcar that ran from Wisconsin Avenue in Friendship Heights, down roughly along the route of present-day Willard Avenue, through Green Acres, across what is now Little Falls Parkway and the parallel Willett Branch stream, up what is today Massachusetts Avenue extended - passing what is now Westbard Avenue and Little Falls Library, onto Walhonding Road (you can see remnants of the sharp angles established by the streetcar to the left of the Parkway crossing, and on the divergence of Walhonding from Massachusetts behind the Glen Echo Volunteer Fire Department firehouse), and down to MacArthur Boulevard. 

Once down the steep Walhonding drop to what is now MacArthur, passengers would disembark from the streetcar, and be taken to the Glen Echo Chautauqua by horse-drawn carriage. The Chautauqua was the forerunner of the Glen Echo Park amusement park that would be built later. This earlier streetcar is not to be confused with the more-famous Washington, D.C. to Glen Echo Park trolley line that operated during the mid-20th-century through Georgetown, the Palisades, and Brookmont. The original 1891 streetcar line was developed by the Baltzley brothers, who lived in the landmark Baltzley Castle they constructed at 5415 Mohican Road in Mohican Hills.

If that's not enough educational material for a Saturday morning, get ready to learn the Mexican sport of padel. It conquered Spain in reverse, and is now one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. Padel Social has just erected a pop-up padel court at Westbard Square. The company will operate three courts there through this fall. It is also in the process of constructing a permanent padel facility "nearby." You can learn the basics here, and starting next month, you can book a time at the pop-up courts. There will be private lessons, clinics, and equipment rentals.