[RP TownTalk] Riverdale Park as Steward of all of our community space

[Vernon Archer]

Friends and neighbors,

My mayor's report that will be published in the upcoming Town Crier
addresses a number of the issues related to the town's need for
increased community activity space and our look into selling the 51st
Street Club House to MNCPPC as a potential step in that direction.
Since a public hearing relating to that potential sale will take place
tomorrow evening I want to send out my report tonight so that all
interested parties might have a clearer view of how we got to this
point and what we hope to achieve over the coming months and years.

We will also be discussing the potential for a dog park in the
vacinity and MNCPPC desire to improve the football/soccer fields in
the area. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow as we work to improve
our town's ammenities.
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Riverdale Park as Steward of Our Community Space

No issue concerns me more as mayor than the state of the community
spaces in Riverdale Park. That is true whether we are considering
roads, sidewalks, buildings, storage lots, parks or parking lots.

In keeping with this during the budget cycle of 2007 I asked for and
received funding to expand and improve Town Hall’s office space and
$200,000 as seed money to improve and expand the indoor community
space available to residents. The first priority was getting the
office space completed and that was finished in the summer of 2009.

Now I and the Council are seeking to make headway toward the second
goal of expanding and improving the space available to residents for
community activities.
What the exact actions are and should be remain fairly open questions.
At this point the resources we have available to us are $200,000 seed
money and town properties that include the municipal properties on
Queensbury and the old Boys and Girls Club building on 51st Street
next to Riverdale Community Park.

As we consider how best to move forward we also must examine the
community’s needs.  The following list is not exhaustive, but our
community space needs to include: 1) classroom and meeting space; 2)
space for arts and crafts; 3) performance space; 4) room for indoor
games; 5) information sharing and gathering space; and 6) locating it
where it provides maximum access to children and seniors.

As stewards of our resources town government must also consider how
this need for community space impacts and can work in tandem with
other town priorities. The space needs to be easily accessible to
kids.  It needs to be in a location where the town can readily oversee
it with existing staff. It needs to have minimal negative impact on
existing neighborhoods, green space, regional stakeholders, and other
town priorities. It needs to be configured in a way that we can
partner with institutions ranging from our own local organizations
like the Arts Council, and the Boys and Girls Club to more regional
organizations like MNCPPC and the Library System.  Also, we need to
consider if there is existing space that is un-utilized or
under-utilized that fits in the above criteria.

After several years of now looking at the options, meeting and talking
with stakeholders, discussing the needs and options with county and
state officials, an outline of at least part of the path forward seems
to be taking shape. The following points seem pretty clear:

First, the old “Boys’ and Girls’ Club” on 51st Street does not fit the
towns needs and cannot reasonably do so in the future.  The current
building is much too small to meet the town’s needs; parking is
inadequate; and expansion of the building and creating a parking lot
would cause substantial disruption to the neighborhood and Riverdale
Community Park. The location makes it almost impossible for the town
to genuinely oversee an active community building with existing staff.
Most importantly, the site is not readily accessible to the majority
of kids who live in our town.

This being said, a hearing is being held on October 25 to consider the
option of selling this location to MNCPPC and taking the proceeds from
the sale to use with our seed money to find a better location. Should
the council decide to move forward with a sale, we will deposit the
proceeds in a special fund that can only be utilized for investment in
building a new community space for our residents. As of my writing the
meeting has not yet been held, and it is entirely possible that the
outcome of the meeting will be that we need to reconsider.  Certainly
we are not committed as of the point of my writing to any specific
course of action.

If we sell the 51st Street club house, I believe that the council will
stipulate in the contract that MNCPPC must use this space only for
park purposes—there can be not any expansion of paving, building, etc
on this property or in its immediate vicinity. There will be at least
one more public hearing held in the coming months prior to any sale of
the property as a condition of any purchase by MNCPPC.

At this point some may be asking: you tell us where not to put our
community space, but where then should we locate it? I don’t have a
definite answer for that, but I can say that one place we should
seriously consider is in or around our existing municipal buildings.
This location has the advantage of being near our school at a location
that provides maximum pedestrian access to kids living in a majority
of our town.  At that location it would be much easier for existing
staff to manage the facility, clean and maintain it, and police to
insure the safety of users.

Regardless of the outcome, this issue of community space needs to be
addressed and our town needs to move forward steadily towards a
positive conclusion.  I invite all residents and stakeholders to join
with me and the council in deciding the best course of action and then
making it become a reality.

-- 
Vernon Archer, Mayor
Town of Riverdale Park, Maryland