? .,,~' ml i " | j z- •" VOl~!:~i~:Nb. 11 SERVING THE PEOPLE OF CABIN JOHN AND BEYOND AUGUST 1975 i j ..... - FUTURE OF GLEN ECHO PARK UNCERTAIN By Shelly Keller Glen Echo- Park needs some help to realize its amazing potentiM as a national, cultural resource center, especially now that the Office of Manageirient and Bud- get seems serious about giving the Park to the Maryland National Capital:Park and Planning Commission or some other State or County agency. As of now, the Park is a "special pro- gram" of the NationalPark Service with the land title residing with GSA. The ,~ Park was to come.under the NPS admini-:~ii" ~. " strative jurisdiction through'the land transfer, but because OMB has not yet moved to finalize the transfer of the land title, there is no legislative description for ~ the Park• : - ~" Many people within the Park Service and especially people involved in the Park itself, fear that OMB might decide that: Glen Echo Park is too experimental, too .:,'. urban and too unlike other National Parks to be ~y_en_ to NPS. Some NPS people reeF f eh-T~-6:~ay; others, andmembers of Congress seem to support efforts to U.S. Con#essman Gilbert Gude and Administrative Aide Keith Schiszik at the July 24th •~ create more urban park situations. meeting abou~ .the .future of Union Arch Bridge. Pho'to by Linda Ford "" In a~i~'~er'~o-'Goti~essmanGude on ~ July 22, Paul O'Neill, Deputy Director of OMB, stated, "I don't think we're far a- BRIDGING THE UNION. ARCH GAP part regarding the future use ofthis pro- by Cat Feild perty and the undesirability of commer- cial development of this site• The issue Believe it or not, the Union Arch Bridge is not a dormant issue. A grimmer of hope is is whether if needs to be developed, oper- born in light of Congressman Gilbert Gude's intervention and interest. rated and maintained by the Federal Gov- On the afternoon of July'24th, upon the request of Andy Rice, President of the Cabin ernment... Our current thought is that John Citizens Association, Congressman Gude and assistant Keith Schiszik met with the the property should be transferred to the entire milieu of those having a legitimate voice in the bridge's reconstruction; namely, Neal Maryland National Capital Park and Plan- Potter, Montgomery County Councilman; Harry Ways, Chief of the Army Corps of Engine- 'ning Commission or other State or County ers for the Washington Aqueduct; Nancy Long, Chairperson of the Montgomery County agency under the Legacy of Parks pro- Historical Trust; Norma Spiegle, President of the Potomac Valley Leaguei Reverend and Mrs. gram." Whether any State or Coimty AUyn Reicke of the Cabin John Methodist Church; Shelly~'Keller, co-chairperson of the agency can afford to run the Park is anot- Bridge Task Force; Andy Rice and representatives of THE VILLAGE NEWS. her question entirely. Discussion centered around financing the bridge's restoration. Means to find more econo- Mr. O'Neill goes on to say that, "The mical alternatives to the $850,000 cost estimation were pursued. Question: "Should the kinds of activities now conducted by NPS bridge remain limited to pedestrian use or repaired as a main roadway?" Mr. Rice catalogued on these lands, namely various arts and the great inconveniences of gasoline expense, additional mileage and time involved in the crafts courses includingeducational ex- indirect route of travel without the bridge. periences for handicapped children and Mr. Potter remarked that "a [comprehensive] Montgomery County contribution is riot the puppet theatre, are desirable social just," but that, "if the bridge's repair dropped on the County's back, the County might find activities, but we find it difficult to justi- a way to repair it at a lower cost." fy direct Federal involvement in them Mr. Harry Ways conceded that Mr. Gleason of the Montgomery County Council also be- •.. This is especially so when considering rieves that the bridge can and should be federally funded. "Strike One. t) Mr. Ways feels that the needs of the Park Service for funds and Continued on page 2 personnel for park and historic areas of national significance which Glen Echo is probably not." ='.. U.S. Representative Jack Brool~s of Texas, who was chairman of the Govern- ment Activities Subcommittee at the time when the Park was acquired by the Feder- al government, stated in a.letter to James. T.. Lynn,'Director of OMB, on July 31, It]s,most disturbing to find that six years later~tl~ig property Tot which the govern- ment;:m~effect, paad approximately $2 nu]. lioniffias stilLnot been transferred to t}|c • :Con tinud~l:3b~i~gk, 3. ' . :..-.:~¢.:,.,.~:~ THE VILLAGE:NEWS, :' ?; '--'f~'~.'t:..~.'~.~.~:~'~" .~'.~ z-:~:--: ""if so,.:fl~e~.C~13inJohn Four Year Old and Shell~/Keller,VILLAGE NEWS; Neal Potter, Montgomery County Council; Cat S.chool invites:you to come for these Feild, VILLAGE NEWS; NanCY Long, ~Montgomery County Hisorical Trust; Andy Rice, an:d niany other.items to the Communi- Cabin John Citizens Association; and Harry.Ways, Army Corps of Engineers. No t pic- tured are Reverend Allyn Reicke andPat Reicke. Photo by Linda Ford ty Cefiter oh:Wdbb Road in Cabin John Gardens 0n:Saturday, August 16 from BRIDGING THE GAP Continu'ed from page 1 10:00am to 4"00pm. Children are in- the~e is still "little chance of getting $850,000 from the D.C. Budget since the District tax- Vitedi:to c0me'and enjoy the children's payers do not utii~ze the bridge." (Strike Two.t) And furthermore, even though "the Army fun bo6fifs ~l~ile your parents shop! Corps of Engineers owns the Bridge, their sole responsibility is to provide water (not travel) Y'ALL COMEON AUGUST 16! to the Met/opolitan area." (Strike Three.t) Now, both Congressman Gude and Senator Mathias propose to solve the problem, by a- If you have anything to donate to mending the D.C. Budget to allow for federal funding. Already Mathias, a member of the the sale, callBetsy Haas at 229-1982, D.C. Appropriation Committee, is introducing legislation in the Senate prodding for the Susan Luchs at 229-0187, Judy Skill Department of Interior or Public works Appropriations. Presently, law requires that one man at 229-3292 orGai Busi at 229- thefederalArm',yagenCYc°rpsmay°f Engineers.n°t give a grant to another federal agency, the recipient in this case being 7096. Support this very worthy com- Congressman Gude posed the possibility to Mr. Potter that the State Higl~way Administra- munity activity! tion or the State Highway Safety Board foot the bridge's repair bill, since "the Union Arch is a national, historical monument." In summation, Congressman Gude declared, "The Bridge is identified at the federal level," THE VILLAGE NEWS is published monthly meaning the ultimate responsibility was in federal hands. A week later, Congressman Gude in a letter to Any Rice, addressed the Bridge as "a uni- in Cabin John, Maryland. Subscriptions are que bureaucratic entity, controlled by several agencies but funded by none." He added that $3.00 per year for non-residents and free to after contacting many key people on the Hill, he decided that the fastest route for funding Cabin John residents. Mail all articles, in- would be to receive aid from the D.C. Council "by having them request the needed funds in quiries, suggestions, complaints, letters and their budget," since the bridge receives its funding from the D.C. budget via the Army Corps subscriptions (with payment) to: of Engineers. Congressman Gude anticipated that "if this approach fails, the next best method of appro- The Editor ach would be to introduce legislation to sever the control of the bridge from the Washington THE VILLAGE NEWS Aqueduct Division of the Corps of Engineers and to vest control in the 'regular' Corpsof Post Office Box 184 • Engineers." This having been accomplished, funding for renovation would be derived through Cabin John, Maryland 20731 normal Public Works Appropriations. And finally, a heartening promise from Congressman Gude that "we will be working on it from every possible angle to gain the necessary funds so that repair work can begin as soon as possible," was the closing note to this chapter on the fate of the Union Arch Bridge fmacling odyssey. REGISTERED MASTER PLUMBER Shelly Keller, Edttor Steve Magnuson, Art Director REASONABLE Cat Feild, Larry Fein, Kevin Flynn, PLUMBING AND HEATING Linda Ford, J. Neal Friedman, Susan Call ED C/2LRK at 229-7311 Gash, Suzanne Gordon, Steve Magnu- DISHWASHERS*REMODELING*HEATERS son, Cappie Morgan, Rich Pottern, LAWN MAINTENANCE & CARE REPAIRS*DRAIN SERVICE*DISPOSERS - Mary Shaw, Beverly Sullivan, Becky and Copper Wilner, and FULLY BONDED AND INSURED " Call Scott Kinsiow 229-5720 Bruce Youngblood, Staff. 229-5685 ....... ., . -7,.~ :: 73:% 7~rt THE VILLAGE NEWS , 3mDGtNG, TneGm incidenLwhere a bicycfing Cabin:John • GLENECHO .Continued~frorn-page~2 re.sident,~hoping,to.avbid the .treacherous Commentary by Steve Magnuson Department o f:~Intenor~o ugh:tlie~Depart - s~eic h of tiae George Wastiington Park- ment-contmues~to~;prOpos'~th~/~the:,area ~:,. As a member of THE VILLAGE NEWS way, was tu/'ned away well before 8pm~ be used for naOonS.lqparl~p~ugposes:~dtqs~-~ staff, the Citizens ASsociation and as a and told that she couldcamp there until my understan~g-t~t:~OMB~!ias'refused ~to most curious and interested observer, I 6am.the fonowing morning, a t which had occasion to attend the meeting last time'she :would gladly be admitted back GSA~"to Ifiterior and is, thereby upsetting month in Congressman Gude's office about int~ her home town.