Rockville, Shady Grove Metro stations to reopen in January

WMATA announced that the extended closure of two Metro stations that has extremely inconvenienced commuters in Rockville, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Clarksburg and Damascus for months will end in January. The Shady Grove and Rockville Metro Red Line stations are now scheduled to reopen for service on January 16, 2022. Free parking and free shuttle bus service will continue to be offered at both stations until the reopening date.

Rockville Burger King update (Photos)

There's still no reopening date for the Burger King at 16004 Shady Grove Road, on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg. A few minor signs of progress since my last report: They've painted the formerly red southwestern corner wall. A final layer of material was applied to the fake tower atop the front of the building. And resurfacing and striping of the parking lot has been completed.

Those weird 1000-lunch-bags window coverings are still up. It looks like canopies over the drive-thru windows may yet have to be installed. This is the best-rated Burger King of those that remain in Montgomery County. I hope they reopen soon, because I've missed about 15 limited-time Burger King menu items during the renovation, between the pandemic and the closure.

Rockville Amazon Fresh construction update (Photos)

If you're just looking from the outside, nothing much appears to have been done at the future Amazon Fresh at the 270 Center on Shady Grove Road in recent weeks. The most visible change is fresh asphalt and line striping on the parking lot in front of the store. But inside, installation of complex wiring, cameras and sensor equipment is being performed, a process that is quite time-consuming for an Amazon grocery store with automatic checkout functions. It can't even be ruled out that they might employ Just Walk Out technology at this store, as they mean for that checkout system to replace the Dash Cart across all Amazon Fresh locations eventually. In addition to the Friendship Heights store, another Montgomery County Amazon Fresh has been confirmed for the Chevy Chase Lake development.

Rockville Historic District Commission to consider historic significance of Lincoln Park house

The Rockville Historic District Commission will consider the historic significance of a single-family home in Lincoln Park, to determine whether the owners may demolish the structure. 215 Lincoln Avenue is located off of a shared driveway. It began as part of a larger, single kinship lot shared by a family in 1932. The lot was subdivided in 1989, at which point the home was given its present address.

A review by city planning staff member Sheila Bashiri found that the home does not meet any of the criteria for historic designation. While the community of Lincoln Park is very significant in the African-American history of Rockville and Montgomery County, the house itself has been altered to the point that it has lost its historic physical integrity, Bashiri wrote. Construction of additional homes around it have erased the only historical context for the site, which was the phenomenon of shared kinship properties, Bashiri noted.

The HDC will consider the historic significance of the property at its December 16, 2021 virtual meeting, and issue a recommendation. Bashiri's staff report recommends against historic designation.

Photos via City of Rockville

Public art unveiled at the Ansel apartments in Rockville Town Center (Photos)

Well, you can't say they didn't try to do something different with the public art installations at the new Ansel apartments at 33 Monroe Street in Rockville Town Center. Coverings were removed yesterday from the obelisks, which feature lighted, glowing panels that visually cite cameras, social media photo apps, and Hollywood films.

Among the icons displayed are the Death Star from Star Wars, the Polaroid instant camera, and the Instagram logo. A Regal Cinemas movie theater is within sight of the new obelisks, and they're obviously meant to be photographed for social media. With the unveiling of the art pieces, the sidewalk has reopened at the site.

The Upton apartments sold in Rockville Town Center

The Upton apartments in Rockville Town Center have changed hands. Developer Duball, LLC sold the property to Comstock Holding Companies last month. Comstock plans to make upgrades to the building, and to rebrand it as BLVD Forty Four. The Upton is located at 44 Maryland Avenue in Rockville.

Photo courtesy Comstock

Car stolen from Derwood auto dealership

Auto thieves broke into an automobile dealership in Derwood early yesterday morning, December 7, 2021, and stole a car. Montgomery County police responded to the burglary at a dealership in the 15900 block of Indianola Drive at 1:06 AM, according to crime data.