More News

The cold rain blew in steady streams on a morning last week, forcing area veterans and their loved ones to clamber inside the warm and dry American Legion building in downtown Wheaton for the post's annual Veterans Day service, which on nice days is always held at the nearby Wheaton Veterans Park.

But the location change didn't mute the anxious chatter about the park, which lies just down the hill on Fern Street and Reedie Drive. It's a cherished memorial for many veterans who have begun to fear that it's also prime real estate that is just too good for developers and county planners to resist in their dream to redevelop Wheaton.

The county-owned Wheaton Veterans Park has served as a gathering site for veterans honoring their fallen comrades on holidays such as Memorial Day and Veterans Day for more than 30 years, and local veterans say losing it to the development of houses or townhomes would be unthinkable.

"We paid the price," said Master Sgt. Tomas Bunting, a past commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, post 2562, in Wheaton. "We served in war time, we served in peace time. Many of us are career men. This is our right to have this park."

County planners stirred up veterans' ire when they announced the .68-acre park is part of an offering of public land in downtown Wheaton to private developers who will be tasked with designing and building a new Wheaton.

The park, nestled between two parking garages and the back end of the Safeway, doesn't see much action beyond veteran holidays, say county planners.

"It's kind of off to the side, and its design isn't very inviting, and it doesn't get used very much at all," said Gary Stith, the deputy director for the county's Department of General Services, who is handling the search for a master development team to redevelop Wheaton.

But many veterans are dismayed that the county could consider giving up one of the few green spaces in Wheaton, and a revered spot at that, for more concrete.

"It just seems that revitalization takes precedence over everything," wrote Pvt. Charles "Bunky" McGuire, a disabled army veteran who lives in Wheaton, in an e-mail to The Gazette.

And holding the Veterans Day and Memorial Day services, which attract anywhere from 50 to 100 people every year, at another location would be a logistical nightmare, veterans say.

"We just don't have any other open places," said Sgt. John Seibel, the VFW post 2562 commander, in an interview on Veterans Day. "That park is very important to us."

County park officials acquired the small slice of land in 1978 from a conglomerate of investors for about $300,000 through a state open-space program. With the help of area veterans—who donated sweat equity and money to the cause —the park was landscaped and dedicated as a memorial to veterans, said Bill Gries, a land-acquisition specialist for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

But the park isn't just disappearing as Wheaton's future takes shape, planners say.

If the land is indeed needed for redevelopment, county planners would find another spot in downtown Wheaton for a similar park devoted to veterans, Stith said.

"‘We are not eliminating the veterans park," he stressed.

Stith said they'd try to keep the park on the east side of Georgia Avenue, where the VFW and American Legion posts are located.

And if developers decide they won't redevelop the park, the county would still consider renovating it, Stith said. Potential touch-ups would make it more accessible to veterans in wheelchairs and expand it into a gathering space people actually want to spend time in, he said.

It's all part of a broader plan to make Wheaton more welcoming and pedestrian-friendly, Stith said. The veterans park will play a role in that no matter its location.

"One way or the other, there's going to be more park space or open space in downtown Wheaton," Stith said.

But area veterans remain wary. At any rate, their red, white and blue "Save our Veterans Park!" signs slapped on VFW and American Legion doors aren't coming down anytime soon.

"I spent a lot of time and effort on the park," Seibel said. "I just hate to see it go."