North Four Corners News ♦ June 2024

Wheaton Regional Park Improvements Underway

By Sharon Canavan

The Montgomery County Planning Board approved Wheaton Regional Park Master Plan (WR Plan) in June 2022 to guide planning for future renovations and growth.  The plan primarily focuses on upgrading existing facilities in the park.  The master plan, as adopted, can be found at the link below.

WRP MASTER PLAN

Some of the first steps outlined in the plan are now underway.  Montgomery Parks is currently designing the Action Sports Park in the Rubini Athletic Complex area off of Orebaugh Avenue.  Activities to serve various ages from beginner-to-advanced skill levels will be added.  The proposal envisions a skate park, parkour (point-to-point training discipline) and extreme fitness facilities, a climbing/bouldering wall, as well as a kids-oriented bicycle area with a pump track and bike skills track.  The proposal also adds social gathering spaces with seating and spectator terraces for parents and families, water misters, and shade structures.  Two existing tennis courts will be converted to six pickleball courts.

The rose garden in Brookside Gardens is also undergoing renovation.  Gardeners and Montgomery Blair High School volunteers have removed disease-prone rose bushes that required synthetic chemical spraying and replanted the area with 200 disease-resistant rose varieties, including 30 rare species.  Perennial plants and grasses will be mixed in among the rose bushes to attract birds and pollinating insects.

To conserve water and promote healthier growth, drip watering will replace the pop-up sprinkler system.  The existing hardscape paths, waterfall wall, wisteria arbor, and commemorative bricks and benches will remain.

The Ovid Hazen Wells (OHW) Carousel will be relocated to Clarksburg later this fall at the end of the season when the Eye Spy train event concludes around Halloween.  A 2022 newsletter article described the history behind the OHW carousel.  A replacement carousel will be installed and is anticipated to be up and running in the spring of 2025.

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Future improvements anticipated in the Wheaton Regional Park plan include lighting, shelters and water fountains for the dog park, and separating the area for large and small dogs.  The existing playground will be redesigned as an Adventure Playground.  Food truck areas and picnic pavilions will be constructed, Pine Lake just outside Brookside Gardens will be enhanced, and a community garden will be added.  There’s a lot to anticipate at nearby Wheaton Regional Park.   ■