Northwood News ♦ June 2012

The Dawn of Day Care in North Four Corners Park

By Jim Zepp

On 11 May, the Silver Spring YMCA submitted a bid to the MNCPPC Parks Department to lease the North Four Corners Park rec center (AKA park activity building).  Its intent is to offer school-age day care services and other community programs — such as summer camps and classes — at this facility.

The building has a capacity for 30 children and the YMCA plans several weatherization upgrades to the structure.  The Parks Department had replaced the heating/air conditioning systems, doors, and roof a few years ago and had raised the building to put in a new foundation about 12 years ago.

The North Four Corners Park Activity Building was closed in April 2010 because the Parks Department said the building was underutilized and in poor physical condition.  Ten of the 26 similar park activity buildings around the County were also closed at the same time.  The agency justified this decision by stating that it would save $170,000 in maintenance costs by closing the 11 one-room buildings for three months or $5,102 per building per month.  In addition to North Four Corners, seven of the other buildings were offered for leasing.  One of the closed park activity buildings has been demolished and replaced with a gazebo.

The Northwood-Four Corners Civic Association is supporting the YMCA’s efforts to lease the North Four Corners Park Activity Building as an appropriate use of the structure that will provide a range of valuable services to area residents and will enable the building to be available for community events and use by residents for birthday parties and other celebrations.  The NFCCA and the YMCA intend to develop a cooperative relationship for reserving the facility and developing a schedule of activities that should cover weekdays, weekends, and evenings.

The Parks Department staff say that they will need 30 to 60 days to evaluate all of the leasing bids submitted for all eight buildings before they announce their decisions.  The YMCA’s lease bid includes two of the other park activity buildings as well as North Four Corners.  If the YMCA’s bid is accepted, then they will have to negotiate with the Parks Department for the lease terms, which includes rent and a $3,000 annual maintenance fee.  The YMCA will also have to obtain an occupancy permit from the County and an approval from the State Department of Education, which regulates day care facilities.  Consequently, while they may be able to offer the school-age day care service for the fall school semester, it will be an extremely tight race with the time remaining.

Representatives from the YMCA will present their plans for the North Four Corners Park activity building and will hopefully know the Parks Department’s decision on their leasing bid at the June NFCCA meeting.   ■