Birchmere Branches Out
Owners of the 500-capacity
County and state officials are said to have committed taxpayer money to create a second Birchmere in a renovated department store in downtown Silver Spring. The agreement calls for the county and state to pitch in about $4 million each over two years to build the venue, according to The Washington Post.
Montgomery County Executive Douglas Duncan reportedly said that an additional live music venue will complement the area’s entertainment scene, which includes the AFI and Round House theatres.
“Residents of Silver Spring have been working toward building a vibrant cultural downtown environment,” Duncan said in a council report. “This second Birchmere location would be one of the final steps to making that vision a reality.”
Project developer Lee Development Group, which owns the proposed venue site, will donate 9,000 square feet of land to the project. Birchmere officials will make a “significant investment” and lease the building from the county, the Post said.
The agreement is a long time coming for area residents, who organized the “Silver Spring Forward” Web site to gather support – and more than 1,200 petition signatures – for the second Birchmere project, which stalled during finance discussions.
“People are starving for this kind of entertainment,” Dan Cohen, who helped create the citizens’ group, told the paper. “This isn’t just about the Birchmere – this is about an economic shot in the arm for downtown Silver Spring.”
Pollstar‘s attempt to reach Birchmere owner Gary Oelze was unsuccessful at press time.
