Let’s Play “Name That Civic Building!”
Wow. I never knew the effort to name the new civic building would cause such a brouhaha, but the listservs are abuzz with ideas and demands. Several people signed a petition to name the new building after Doug Duncan, which caused a backlash from several groups – among them my very own East Silver Spring Citizen’s Association. At the meeting a couple of weeks ago, the trashing of Duncan’s name was immediately followed by a vote on whether to name the building “Silver Spring Civic Center” or “Silver Spring Civic Building.” How creative.
I thought this would be a fine time to throw it out for further discussion and add my own two cents worth.
- The Armory Center (because nothing gets people in a tizzy more than talking about the destruction of the Silver Spring Armory)
- The Promenade Building (props to Silver Spring, Singular)
- The Turf Building (for obvious reasons)
- Emo Central (the cement and lack of green space is boud to attract skateboards, and people seem to refuse the youth a skate park at the south end of Fenton Village)
- That Place Next to Whole Foods
- The Concrete Jungle
- The Bill Thayer Building (our vote, of course)
- The Historic-in-50-Years Building
- NIMBY Palace
- The Fillmore (because God knows when we’ll get another one of those)
- The Norman Lane Shelter
Your turn.
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I have to think about the Civic Center, but the grassy area should be called “Goldie Lawn”.
Or just “The Grassy Knoll”.
And any asphalt-laden area could be called “The Lewis Blacktop.”
I’d suggest calling it the “Eric Robbins Civic Center”, but it turns out you don’t speak Hungarian and you’re not dead. So, sorry.
(Or maybe you do speak Hungarian? And there is that zombie thing. Hmmm…)
I wonder what the community had as name options when they named the Silver Spring Armory. Perhaps SS History can fill in that detail.
In the meantime… how about:
The Silver Spring Civic Building at Doug Duncan Civic Center
Neil Potter Memorial Parking Garage Replacement Facility
East Silver Spring Community Building
Lee Plaza II
Dat Nu Joint to Cuss, Spit and Wild
How about the Silver Spring Anti-Zombie Bunker
Out of curiosity, what authority does the East Silver Spring Citizen’s Association have to name the Civic Center? The space is actually bordered on two sides by my neighborhood. Sounds like the beginning of a turf war to me.
Watch out for people wearing SOECA gang colors in your neighborhood, ESS.
Where’s Sleepless in Slumburbia with his inane West Side Story references when you need him?
NIMBY Hall
Given that local writer George Pelecanos hates everything that has happened downtown, let’s name it after him.
THUNDERDOME
I’d name it after George Pelecanos in a heartbeat, but that’s because I like his writings and read his books. And whether or not he likes what’s happened, he’s done a great job of bringing our area into popular culture through his work. I like that.
Two men enter, one man leave!
Question is, who do we put in? My theory of the Stith/Tull combo as Master Blaster is bunk now that Gary’s gone, too. So many options…
I agree 100 percent with Eric about what Pelecanos’ books have done for the area (I like reading them, too). I just hope he’d appreciate the irony of the honor.
Whoa there, “Bill Thayer” indeed!… I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it was JULIA Thayer who sold this land to Easley for development, not her husband who had already been dead for nine years.
Hummph.
I suggest “Not Your Father’s Armory” and “Move Along Kids, Nothing to See Here Plaza”
I like Kathy J’s the best, but I’d make a change to “not your GRANDFATHER’s armory” and “move along kids, nothing to see or do here.
“Greenspace Memorial”
“Hastenburaphobia Plaza”
“DTSS-hates-wide-open-spaces Center”
“Cement-o-rama”
Norman Lane Civic Center. He’s the once and future mayor afterall.
Or, we could name it for Socks since he’s the new Norm.
Or CBD 0.5 Memorial Too Short Building (I realize that’s going back a bit too far for some of y’all).
Whatever you name it, it will be historic in 10 years and a scandal when the county tears it down during a press conference 40 years later.