My name is Beverly Sobel, president of GreenSpaceOnGeorgia.org. GreenSpaceOnGeorgia.org is a
civic group representing over several hundred Wheaton, MD residents that live near the former School of
Art and Design at Montgomery College (MCAD) property. The MCAD property is located at 10500
Georgia Ave., Wheaton, MD. These residents overwhelming support the creation of much needed
parkland at MCAD.

The State bond funding requested today will be used for the demolition and removal of the roughly 14,000
sq. ft. MCAD building which has been vacant for over 2.5 years in our communities. Tearing down the
building is the first step to parkland creation. The building has been heavily vandalized and encourages
criminal behavior. Over the past 2.5 years, the windows of the back side of the building were broken to
the point that they were recently replaced in their entirety with plywood. Now, this recently painted
plywood has become a canvass for graffiti. Please see the attached photos. Prior to the new plywood,
broken windows were replaced with pieces of plywood. For example, please look at Photo 5, the front
entrance of the building. All of these photos were taken a week ago. The community is concerned about
the apparent tagging of the MCAD building by possibly gangs as well as the amount of alcohol consumed
on the property as evidenced by the broken beer bottles on the pavement and the growing number of
bottles collecting on the top of the MCAD building’s roof.

We are grateful for the opportunity today to request state funding to help demolish and remove this
heavily vandalized, long vacant building in our communities. Future parkland at MCAD will provide safe,
nearby access to public recreational space for three Wheaton communities (Carroll Knolls, McKenney
Hills, and Plyers Mill Crossing). The M-NCPPC Parks Department as well as scores of residents, civic
groups, and elected officials such as County Councilmembers Valerie Ervin, Marc Elrich, and Nancy
Navarro support saving MCAD as a much needed neighborhood park. If MCAD is not saved, several
hundred Wheaton residents who are in great need of green space along Georgia Avenue will be left to
bear the daily, negative impact of that decision. Thank you for time and hopefully help in making our
communities safer and greener.

Photo 1: Front Side of MCAD Building
Photo 2: Back Side of MCAD Building (white graffiti on recently installed and painted plywood where
windows were)
Photo 3: Back of MCAD Building – dumpster.
Photo 4: Side of MCAD Building Towards the Back.
Photo 5: Front Entrance of MCAD Building.