Politics & Government

North Potomac Community Center Flagged for Delay

Construction would begin in winter 2013 under County Executive Isiah Leggett's proposed amendments to the six-year capital spending plan

Construction on the North Potomac Community Center would be delayed by six months under Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett’s proposed changes to the six-year capital-spending plan released this month.

Citing “fiscal constraints,” county records show construction on the North Potomac Community Center would begin in the fall or winter of 2013.

The delay comes after Montgomery County Council authorized spending $38 million to build the community center, a 33,000-square-foot facility to be built next to Big Pines Park.

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Permits were obtained in fall 2012, county records show.

Talks of building a community center have been going on for more than 10 years, but the design process did not begin until 2008. In 2009, the department completed acquisition of the total property, Patch has reported.

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At a community meeting in October 2010, residents were told plans to build the rec center were on schedule to begin in July 2011. But the project was stalled after Leggett left it out of the capital-spending budget, spurring an online petition from unhappy North Potomac residents.

Leggett’s $4.37 billion capital spending plan includes elementary school security systems, bridge repair projects, storm drain culvert replacements and the replacement of the remaining Champion buses in the Ride On bus fleet, which were taken out of service following fire safety concerns, Bethesda Patch has reported.

According to a county statement released to the media, the proposed capital spending plan “recognizes the vital need to control future debt and focuses on funding critical safety-related capital needs or projects that will boost the County’s recovering economy and spur job growth.”


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