Monday, April 3, 2017

Mayor and Council to discuss historic designation of Americana Centre tonight

The Mayor and Council will discuss and instruct staff on the proposed historic designation for the Americana Centre development in Rockville during their meeting tonight, which begins at 7:00 PM at City Hall. Along with the failed Rockville Mall, Americana Centre represents one of the most significant examples of 1960s-era urban renewal policies in Montgomery County.

If the Mayor and Council direct them to do so tonight, staff will bring back an ordinance to change Americana Centre's zoning to "MXTD (HD)," to signify it has been designated historic at the local level. That ordinance would likely be presented for a vote at the Mayor and Council's April 17 meeting, if a supermajority waives the layover period.

8 comments:

  1. Old and ugly. like granny's snapper!

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  2. Hysteric destination maybe.

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  3. About as historic as a 1975 Pinto

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  4. The Only thing that should be declared a relic is the city council member who lives there.

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  5. I watched the meeting video, no one from the public attendants seems to object and all the council members and mayor agree with the plan. I wonder how much the owner of Americana Center bribe them to make it happen, as people live here we all know those buildings are old, ugly and unattractive. Please go and watch the recorded video on demand on rockville gov site, when they said they agree, they couldn't even speak clearly why are they supporting it, no clear points made. You can see the hesitation there. Why nobody object it??? Please do something

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  6. Personally, I thought the old "pink bank" actually had more of a historic character to it but they had no problem tearing that down.

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  7. I wish they would replace the brutalist-style (?) concrete county buildings (remnants of the old mall) right across from Rockville metro! Really ugly buildings to have in the middle of the city center and located right on the main thoroughfare. The city/state can't even maintain that intersection. Pedestrians get hit there and they can't even improve lightning or fix the crosswalk paint worn down over the years. Not exactly an obscure location.

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    1. Don't wish, act. I sent email to the mayor and council to voice my opinion.

      Below as a copy:

      Dear Mayor and Council,

      After the old and rats infested Rockville shopping mall torn down years ago, it's truly finally rebuilt the City of Rockville Town Center and continue to thrive. For community, residents or visitors, Rockville Town Center is the focal point to represent downtown Rockville. Its vibrancy, modern and welcoming unique characteristic justified the new era of Rockville city.

      BUT wait a minute, there's something wrong going on there. Something not quite right, not quite done, not quite fit into the Town Center master plan of the downtown contemporary look. That's right, the Americana Center Condominiums.

      Americana Center Condominiums sit right in the heart of downtown and not 1, but 2 major streets and intersection on Rockville Pike and Veirs Mill rd. I've heard residents talked about those old and dingy buildings, even friends visiting from out of town are questioning about the confusion of Rockville Town Square because of the location and age of Americana Center Condominiums don't blend into the downtown design.

      Unsurprisingly, nobody cares about the history of the Condominiums because they aren't really attractive nor important to be preserved. Everyone is wondering and hoping for the city and investors would someday redevelop that area to fit into this age of time and improve the overall look of the downtown, and not dragging us back to the 70's.

      I regret that not many of us can make it to the community forum to express our feelings and voices, but that doesn't mean that we are not out there and against the idea of turning Americana Center Condominiums into historic preservation.

      I truly urge the council and mayor to reconsider the plan and make a wiser choice of the location use for the good of the city and community.

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