The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 50
Welcome to The Dark Side of White Flint, an ongoing series about the not-so-wonnerful, wonnerful, wonnerful side of urbanizing the suburbs of Montgomery County.
A demolition a decade in-the-making is at last proceeding at 11565 Old Georgetown Road. Grand Scandanavian architecture is crumbling to the ground at the business end of heavy machinery. Saab hasn't made cars in over a decade, focusing instead on its core business as a defense and aerospace firm. But its White Flint dealership remained a testament to these ultra-safe and ultra-quirky Swedish automobiles that put more thought into design than IKEA.
Saab memorabilia that was still inside the abandoned dealership in 2013 was presumably removed when redevelopment of the property stalled out, and the property became a T-Mobile store in 2017. The indignity!
The Saab dealership is gone. Darkness falls over Old Georgetown Road. But somewhere in the night, a car still starts with an ignition on the floor between the seats, and shuts off with the transmission in reverse.
“Do you see that tree? It is dead but it still sways in the wind with the others. I think it would be like that with me. That if I died, I would still be part of life in one way or another.” - Anton Chekov
