Tuesday, March 17, 2009

what's up the pike: name game (updated)

Insert St. Patrick's Day reference here. (Is Doug Duncan Irish?)

- Citing his tireless efforts to revitalize Downtown Silver Spring, local residents are circulating a petition to have the new Civic Building named for Doug Duncan. "[Duncan's] decisiveness and active involvement with our communities were instrumental in shaping a vision for our downtown," reads the letter. "Many people talked about revitalizing Silver Spring. Doug Duncan got it done. "

Despite County law stating that buildings can't be named for recent elected officials, this isn't the first time Duncan's name has been suggested for a new building; in 2007, a controversy erupted over naming the Rockville Library for the former County Executive.

- The Old Blair Auditorium on Wayne Avenue is one step closer to reopening as the Board of Education has hired local architecture firm Grimm + Parker to do a feasibility study (warning! PDF file.) for the four-decade-old theatre's renovation. After years of hosting Blair High School plays and famous faces as varied as Ralph Nader and Stevie Wonder, the then-named Elizabeth Stickley Auditorium fell into disuse after Blair moved to its current campus in Four Corners in 1998. Grimm + Parker, which has an office in Calverton, has designed multiple schools across the region, but is best known for the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda.

- There may not be any blue-collar workers in Bethesda, but there are plenty of white-collar workers who commute there from the east side. The Maryland Commons blog interviews Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce president Ginanne Italiano, who lives in Silver Spring (ironic, huh?) and looks forward to the Purple Line on the Capital Crescent Trail.

"I travel regularly from Silver Spring to Bethesda and would be thrilled to be able to catch the light rail at the Forest Glen Metro Station and be to work in nine minutes," says Italiano. She might want to consult a map before he leaves for the office.

2 comments:

Robert said...

Doug Duncan did a lot to ensure the revitalization of downtown Silver Spring, but no government facility should be named after any living person, or any recently deceased person for that matter. A person's contributions (and lack of misdeeds) should stand the test of time, before we name something after someone. Why not just name the building the Silver Spring Civic Building? That's what people will call it anyway.

chippy said...

Does anyone know what Doug Duncan is doing these days?

I heard that he left his position as the head real estate developer at the university late last year.