leggett's blogger briefing: putting silver spring on the set list

WHAT'S UP THE PIKE: Holy Cross Hospital reaches out to speakers of other languages; McDonald's school fundraisers have Councilman Leventhal in a tizzy.

This is part ONE of a series on County Executive Ike Leggett's meeting with Silver Spring bloggers this week about the Fillmore. Tomorrow, we'll look at how the County came to its decision - and why one block of Colesville Road's sat fallow for almost twenty years.

With the Fillmore a sure thing for Downtown Silver Spring, County Executive Ike Leggett explained what we can expect in the coming years at a meeting late yesterday evening with members of the Silver Spring Blogging Collective. Leggett, who was joined by spokesman Patrick Lacefield and Silver Spring regional director Gary Stith, spoke to Henry from the Silver Spring Scene, Jen from The Penguin and myself at the Silver Spring Regional Services Center at Wayne and Georgia.

Despite calls that Montgomery County has hidden its selection process for an operator for the proposed venue on Colesville Road from the public, Leggett noted that previous County-funded projects were often less visible. "I think we benefit by greater transparency," he says. "In the past, it hasn't been as open . . . [but] we're talking about a community-use facility."

In its twenty-year lease, international concert promoter Live Nation is also required to make several concessions to Montgomery County. When the venue is not booked for an anticipated 70 to 150 events each year, community groups will be allowed to use it. In its marketing, the music hall must refer to Silver Spring as its location, not Washington D.C. It's a major concession for company whose venues have names like "The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater" or "The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza."

so much more AFTER THE JUMP . . .

"If you're an important act on the West Coast and you're told 'we have a venue in Silver Spring, Maryland,' you'll say 'where'?" says Leggett. "The answer is 'just outside Washington, D.C.'"

An Arts and Entertainment Advisory Committee will be formed to oversee the Fillmore and other venues in Silver Spring. Last summer, Silver Spring, Singular envisioned command performances based on community whims, but the committee will have considerably less power.

Henry argued that the committee would be mainly composed of older residents out of touch with current music. Leggett joked that the committee would demand that Live Nation "go and book Wayne Newton for a week to make the over-50's happy," but emphasized their limited capabilities. "It's an advisory committee," he says. "It doesn't have the authority to mandate anything . . . they want to create and maintain good will [with the community]."

"Live Nation made it clear: nobody's telling us what acts are gonna play," adds Gary Stith.

The Lee Development Group is giving the building and the land under it to Montgomery County in exchange for the rights to develop adjacent property. In addition to the $2 million Live Nation has pledged for renovating the former J.C. Penney building, the County and State of Maryland are each giving $4 million. That money will be taken out in a bond, not from County revenues, says Leggett, meaning the only actual costs incurred are for yearly interest.
Montgomery County will make over a million dollars from the Fillmore each year, compared to less than half a million in its previous failed arrangement with the Alexandria-based Birchmere.

moco's fillmore flyer

Montgomery County's promoting the new Fillmore music hall on Colesville with this flyer, sent to JUTP about an hour ago from Patrick Lacefield, County Executive Ike Leggett's spokesman. In a nod to many residents' lingering resentment over the project $8 million of State and County money that would go to the project - what County Councilman Marc Elrich called a "bad deal" - the flyer notes that the deal will offer "no subsidies to Live Nation," the promoter selected to run the venue. The County wants this to be considered a "done deal," and there's no way like an official flyer to drive the point home.

marilyn praisner (1941-2008) (updated)

"Folks tend to get the perception that their corner of the County is unique . . . when we all have the same problems." - Marilyn Praisner

UPDATES: - Sligo informed us that Planning Board commissioner Gene Lynch, who lived in Woodside Park, has also passed away. I would also like to extend my condolences to Lynch's family on this especially sad day in Montgomery County.

- Adam Pagnucco eulogizes Marilyn Praisner and her long career of public service at Crossing Georgia.

- Councilmember George Leventhal (D-At Large) had this to say about Praisner's passing:

"Montgomery County lost a great public servant today. I so enjoyed working with Marilyn. We shared a lot of laughs and helped a lot of people together. I had profound respect for her knowledge, her experience, her perspective and her dedication. I will never forget her example of tireless commitment and I know that for years to come, before a tough vote, Councilmembers, including me, will wonder, What Would Marilyn Do?"

- Mark D. Fennel, who ran for County Council in District 4 as a Republican two years ago, is demanding a special election to replace Praisner on a Washington Post blog.

County Councilmember Marilyn Praisner (D-Calverton) passed away this morning while undergoing heart surgery. I just wanted to express my condolences for her family and for everyone who's ever had the chance to work with our county's longest-serving councilmember.

JUTP interviewed Praisner last year. I've always felt like she was a neighbor of mine, living just a couple of blocks from my house. I didn't always agree with her policies, but it's clear she cared about our community. She cared enough to put down roots here forty years ago and never leave. How many people - in East County or anywhere - can say that?

I am inexplicably shaken. I don't know what else to say. I'm so sorry.

cruising for booze (or not) in east county

WHAT'S UP THE PIKE: Wheaton baby falls out of window and into safety; Golf course renovation dominates town hall meeting.

"SILVER SPRINGS": It looks like nobody at T.G.I. Friday's corporate office reads Silver Spring, Singular.

Last week, I had lunch for the first time at the new T.G.I. Friday's at The Pike and Tech Road. I should emphasize that I went on a calendar Friday, because "it's always Friday" there, as they say. Despite the "Silver Springs" printed on their welcome mat ("they always be doin' that," said the girl at the door, "they gonna change it soon"), this humble chain restaurant's opening has excited East County residents, if only for their liquor menu.

That's the result of the County's Department of Liquor Control, which regulates how and where alcohol is sold. Its tight control of liquor licenses left the East County was a somewhat dry place, save for a few bars like Harry's on Old Columbia Pike and the Corner Pocket, located on the MoCo side of the bi-county Maryland Farms Shopping Center on Cherry Hill Road. Four years ago, in anticipation of the FDA campus and the white-collar workers it would attract, the State designated the surrounding area an "enterprise zone," which made it easier for restaurants opening Up The Pike to obtain a license.

Until 2004, restaurants seeking to serve booze were limited in how frequently they could apply for liquor licenses. As Richard Layman of Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space pointed out earlier this week, that policy meant sit-down eateries would merely set up in Bethesda and Rockville rather than go through the trouble of getting licenses for additional locations in Silver Spring or Burtonsville.

It is rather sad to say that T.G.I. Friday's is all we have after four years, and the steady flow of office workers and Riderwood retirees during the lunch hour show how starved we've been for some nice restaurants. Here's hoping we'll see more sit-down places in the coming years - and, in the meantime, try the Zen Potstickers at Friday's. (I can't tell you about their drink menu because, of course, I am underage and do not have a fake ID, sadly.)