Thomas Farm Community Center Grand Opening

On Saturday, March 21, 2009, Mayor Susan Hoffmann dedicated the >Thomas Farm Community Center to the citizens of Rockville. The slideshow highlights some of the festivities from the occasion.

Mayor Hoffmann congratulated Burt Hall and his Parks and Recreation team for completing the project on time and within budget. As the property includes many sustainable features, Mayor Hoffmann proclaimed that we were one step closer to making Rockville “the greenest city in the world”. The Center’s Fallsgrove Park will soon feature tennis courts, a gazebo, community gardens, an additional playground piece, and playing fields with easy access to the Millennium Trail for the residents of Rockville to walk or bike to the Center and Park. She thought the large-scale, kinetic sculpture hanging in the main lobby, “Magnet” by Charlotte Lees, accurately portrays the vibrancy of this community.

After the Mayor’s remarks, the City Councilmembers John Britton, Piotr Gajewski, Phyllis Marcuccio, and Anne Robbins joined her to reveal the plaque for the Center, then all the visiting elected officials and their representatives from county, state and federal levels helped to cut the big, red ribbon.

Inside the array of food for the reception was unbelievable. I lamented going out to brunch before attending the ceremony. The kids enjoyed the moon bounce and mini-golf course in the full-size gymnasium. An impressive balloon artist made elaborate water blaster guns and space aliens. As the afternoon classes began, people joined the fun in the multi-purpose rooms and friend, Terry Winkler, welcomed children to sit on the carpet pieces for her music class.

Fallsgrove artist, Arthur Goldberg’s Designs graced the walls of the main lobby where rotating exhibits will feature local artists. Only his second show, Artie has worked as a Graphic and Environmental Designer for over 40 years. His work has a strong vibrancy in every media. When I asked, he said he didn’t have a favorite. All his pieces illustrate a mastery of technique in a variety of design from three-dimensional to acrylic to ink. His painting with the geese, Magnolia Plantation, depicts the South Carolina location where the first azaleas were brought to our country. The exhibit will be on display until May.

Don Savage, Architect for the site from DCMM, explained all the sustainable, green features in detail during a tour of the building. As I already mentioned, the building is heated and cooled using geothermal technology and lots of pipes. A refrigerant liquid cools the water pumped up from under the parking lot to blow cool air off in summer, then the system compresses heat out in winter. An oil system would have constantly required fuel. The insulation on the building was 50% more than required by code to increase efficiency. In the long term, a 66% savings in electricity is expected. The hot water heater is the only gas guzzler in the building. Water-based vinyl tiles were used instead of an oil product. Maple was laid for the floors because it can easily be replenished. The white ceilings reflect the light down from the wells surrounding the fluorescent lights making use of ambient light. The multi-purpose rooms should not electric lights during the day since they face north. If they do, the rooms are individually controlled. In the gym, clerestory windows like those found in European cathedrals bring natural light to the space. The parking lot lights are more efficient lower-wattage bulbs which point the light down where it is needed. The special pavement in the parking lot allows even extremely strong rains to go directly through to the ground with absolutely no runoff. No water on the property is going into the storm water system so the “biohazard” pond has been eliminated. Mr. Savage said we could pour a 5-gallon bucket of water onto the pavement and it would immediately disappear. The footprint of the building is small and the long driveway allowed the stand of trees to be saved. In the long run, Rockville’s investment in these sustainable features will save money and our environment.

A friend told me that her middle school son spends all his free time at the Center. The yearly membership fee was the best $30 she ever spent. When I found out the Game room has a PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, ping pong, a Blu-Ray DVD player and computers, I wasn’t surprised. Although the Thomas Farm Community Center has just opened, it’s already an integral part of the community.

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