Hillandale Local Park- Construction Project
Project Description
Hillandale Local Park is an existing 24.5-acre park located at 10615 New Hampshire Avenue, in Hillandale, Maryland, just outside and north of the I-495 Capital Beltway. The park renovation includes the realignment/reconstruction of the main Chalmers Road entrance, modification to the existing Rodney Road entrance, construction of a restroom/picnic shelter facility, multi-age playground, lighted basketball courts, a high-performance rectangular field with a softball diamond overlay, parking, an asphalt loop trail, accessible walkways, seating areas, installation of site furnishings, tree preservation, landscape planting and stormwater management facilities. A recently constructed picnic shelter and associated accessible parking area and the existing tennis courts will be retained and incorporated into the design of the renovated park. The park will remain closed throughout the course of construction.
Background
The land was acquired by the Commission in 1943 and was developed with active recreational facilities and a small parking lot in the early 1950s. A two-story, circa 1975 brick office building and associated parking lot was acquired by the Commission in 2007 and was demolished in 2021 to allow the realignment of the main park entrance at Chalmers Road, an important safety enhancement.
The park contains 13.2 acres of environmentally sensitive land, including a stream buffer, located along the eastern side of the park. Approximately 1.4 acres of this land is currently improved with park facilities. The remainder is predominantly forested and constrained by the stream valley, steep slopes, floodplains, or erodible soils. A perennial tributary to the Paint Branch lies directly downhill from the forested area, mostly within an undeveloped road right-of-way.
Status/Project Update
A park Facility Plan and construction budget were approved by the Montgomery County Planning Board on July 9, 2015. The scope of the project and its budget were subsequently reduced in May of 2018 to meet spending affordability guidelines.
- 100% complete construction documents completed – October 2021
- Project is advertised for construction – October 2021
- Bids accepted – November 2021
- Notice to Proceed is issued to contractor for construction – February 2022
- Estimated project completion – August 2023
- Park reopening – November 4, 2023