Media Advisory
Date: October 5, 2005
Media Contact: Steve Simon (Montgomery College), 301-251-7952; Marion Joyce (Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission), 301-495-4600
Dedication of Renovated Jesup Blair Park Set for Friday, October 7
Event Also to Display Plans for Montgomery College’s New Arts Center in Former Bakery
Representatives from The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Montgomery College, and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County will gather at Jesup Blair Local Park, in south Silver Spring, on Friday, October 7, at 10 a.m. to dedicate the renovated 15- acre park and display the College’s plans for a new visual arts center in the former Giant Food bakery building. Park officials will also unveil a new sculpture, named “Passage,” by artist Linda DePalma. Jesup Blair Park includes a soccer field, lighted tennis and basketball courts, walking paths and sidewalks, a tot lot, extensive tree preservation work, picnic areas and parking spaces. In addition, the park features the historic Jesup Blair house and a connection to the covered pedestrian bridge over the Metrorail and railroad tracks. The bridge links communities in Takoma Park and Silver Spring and the provides a connection between the two sections of Montgomery College’s Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus, on each side of the tracks. By the end of the month, landscapers will plant more than 160 new native shade, evergreen and ornamental trees in the newly renovated park. WHO: Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Chairman Derick P. Berlage WHAT: Park and artwork dedication, followed by refreshments in the foyer of Montgomery College’s Health Sciences Center, adjacent to the park at 7977 Georgia Avenue WHEN: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7 -- 10 A.M. WHERE: 900 Jesup Blair Drive (at Georgia Avenue and the D.C. line) # # #
Montgomery College President Charlene Nunley, Ph.D.
Maryland Senator Ida G. Ruben
Montgomery County Councilmembers Nancy Floreen, Steve Silverman and
George Leventhal
Artist Linda DePalma
Silver Spring
Free parking is available along Jesup Blair Drive
Look for the tent/canopy in back of the historic house