Silver Spring Civic Building... Plan B
Why does the ice rink need a cover?
Look at Rockefeller Center in New York, Millennium Park in Chicago, and the ice rink on the Smithsonian Mall. They are not covered and serve as beautiful gathering places. With an emphasis on green instead of pavement, Silver Spring's ice skating rink could be really lovely.
And, if need be, the rink could be used as a pool or fountain in the summer time or creatively re-adapted as a dance-floor or bandstand or artifically-turfed slightly elevated hangout. On the other hand, if covering the ice rink means it could be used year-round, it may attract quite a crowd when the temperature rises and provide a refreshing respite from the heat.
I don't see the purpose of the civic auditorium. Perhaps I think the Takoma Park Community was so burned by our own "anti-community" center (as I refer to that inaccessible, architecturally confused and totally inadequate monstrosity at the corner of Philadelphia and Maple) that I have no trust of such buildings.
Couldn't other unused space in surrounding buildings (like the theaters that used to be in City Place) be used for civic functions. Granted they would not be at ground level, but ground level is precious and wasted on single-level structures.
— Diana B. Vidutis
Takoma Park, MD