Late-posted sign acknowledges tennis court work in Battery Lane Park (Photos)

The Montgomery County Parks department has yet to respond to my inquiry eleven days ago regarding the mysterious dismantling of the tennis court in Battery Lane Park. But nearly two weeks after unceremoniously shutting down the court and dismantling it, the agency has finally decided to let us taxpayers in on the secret. A sign was posted in the park Thursday. It is renovating the tennis court, which will be closed until an unspecified date in November, weather permitting.

The department will then color the surface in Spring 2016.

An announcement has also been posted on the department website, which previously had no notice regarding the work.

I can only characterize the actions of Parks as bizarre. They not only dropped the ball on basic communications with the neighborhood, but also did not feel it was necessary to announce a major project that inconveniences users of the park until it was half-finished. It sounds like they need to hire a PR consultant. 

Is there any accountability or oversight over this department? Oh, yeah, that's right. The County Council. Asleep at the switch again. As one commenter mentioned, this is the service you end up with when there aren't any actual Bethesda residents on the Council.

Battery Lane Park tennis court: the mystery continues (Photos)

The secretive work in Battery Lane Park continues. After removing the fencing and filling the fencepost holes around the tennis court, workers have put a new asphalt surface down. This does not appear to be an upgrade of the tennis court, since tennis courts are usually green or brown.

No answer yet to my citizen inquiry to the Montgomery County Parks department's unaptly-named "Customer Service" page, which was emailed to them nine days ago. Most modern governments assign a ticket to constituent inquiries, and the job isn't done until they satisfactorily answer your question. Here in high-tax Montgomery County? They'll get around to it when they feel like it.

Until Parks does decide to let us - the residents and taxpayers - in on this little secret, it can't officially be said that the tennis court is being deleted from the park. But the absence of information invites speculation.

I can say it would be completely inappropriate for the Parks department to remove the tennis court without consulting with nearby residents and having an official process. You can't have one person, or a handful of individuals, make an executive decision on changes to a park behind closed doors. That's not the way it works. A tennis court is a significant amenity not found on every block in an urban area. It's pretty outrageous to shut one down without notice, much less rip it out entirely.

Is this a preview of the bigger
blacktop road developers, er,
planners want to run through
Battery Lane Park
over resident objections?

Is this part of the plan to run a road through this park, to delete amenities and cut usage to justify the endgame? The silent treatment certainly raises suspicions.

Parks Dept. mum on dismantled Battery Lane Park tennis courts in Bethesda (Photos)

What's left of the tennis
courts at
Battery Lane Park

A week ago, I received a tip that the tennis courts were being dismantled in Battery Lane Park in downtown Bethesda. I immediately went to the Montgomery County Department of Parks website, and searched the "Announcements" for information. There was none.

I then contacted the department as any citizen would be able to, using the address given (info@MontgomeryParks.org) on their "Customer Service Center". The page promised a response "within two business days." A week later, I have heard nothing back. So much for "open data" and moving the county government into the 21st century. It's also another excellent test of the County's "customer service" - they had no idea this was a media request, so we can tell how responsive they will be to citizen inquiries.

Not responsive at all, so far.

This isn't a County Government-wide problem. For example, I have received prompt and helpful responses from Steve Martin of the County Department of Environmental Protection, regarding noise complaints in downtown Bethesda.

It's not even a department-wide problem. Greg Hwang of the Department of Transportation has quickly answered emails I have sent regarding the Midcounty Highway Corridor Study. In stark contrast to Mr. Hwang's responsiveness, other DOT officials to this day have never provided me any information regarding the hushed-up seizure of the Glen Echo Park trolley trestle for a bike facility, a project that is now complete. Multiple inquiries were ignored, or the can was kicked down the road as to when I could expect to receive an answer.

Let me tell you, when I'm paying your salary, today is the day I expect to receive an answer regarding public projects funded by taxpayer funds.

No answer yet from Parks on Battery Lane Park, though. One resident said on Friday that she had tried calling the department, and could not get any answers either.

The fences are gone from the courts. Is this a project to upgrade the park? Are the courts being removed?

Perhaps the Parks Department will share this information with us at some point in the future.