PARK IT Universities at Shady Grove building new garage. A-5
NEWS: Bullis students step up to help girls in developing countries. A-3
The Gazette ROCKVILLE | ASPEN HILL | POTOMAC | OLNEY DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Critics say Rockville’s major artery could divide, not improve, the city n
St. Peter’s House in Olney more than a place to stay for developmentally disabled women n
BY
P
TERRI HOGAN
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Resident Elizabeth Ann Roles raises a glass during a recent dinner at St. Peter’s House in Olney. a great job of providing physical care, but how can we attend to their spiritual needs?” he asked. He worked with Monsignor Ralph Kuehner, a retired priest known for his dedication to service. Kuehner is credited with founding Victory Housing for the elderly and So Others May Eat. “He was the perfect guy for me to hook up with to get Rosaria started,” Welch said. Rosaria’s mission is to work with parishes to support creating independent living opportunities for people with de-
velopmental or intellectual disabilities. Rosaria opened its first home at St. Rose of Lima in Germantown in 2009, and the second home, sponsored by St. John the Evangelist in Silver Spring, opened in 2112. Each home houses three men. In 2013, Rosaria completed the acquisition and renovation of St. Peter’s House, a project sponsored by the St. Peter’s community in Olney. On March 1, the Most Rev. Barry C.
See HOME, Page A-12
Council building overhaul in limbo School board members take issue with project
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BY KATE ALEXANDER AND LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITERS
Two Montgomery County school board members are criticizing a plan to spend up to $36 million on new or improved County Council quarters. The school district’s head-
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
STAFF WRITER
erhaps the greatest fear that parents of a child with special needs have is what will become of the child when they die or can no longer care for them. Tom Welch of Olney, the father of two daughters with developmental disabilities, acted on this fear to create Rosaria Communities, a nonprofit affiliated with the Archdiocese of Washington. “From a parent’s perspective, you spend your life advocating for their educational needs and therapy requirements, but when they turn 21, they are turned loose from the school system,” Welch said. “From an advocacy standpoint, you wonder what is next, what will happen when you can’t take care of them?” Welch said church always has been an integral part of his family’s life, and especially important to his two daughters, who actively participated as altar servers and who always received support from the St. Peter’s parish community. “There are organizations that do
25 cents
Pike plan: Too big to succeed?
It’s not a house — it’s a home BY
SPORTS: Tennis, gymnastics, golf, volleyball are underway. We preview spring sports. B-1
quarters also are in poor condition, the board members said, calling for a higher priority on building schools. The council office plan is on hold, but a council member said that’s because of disagreement on how to proceed, not the school board’s criticism. The heating, ventilation and air conditioning in the Stella B. Werner Council Office Building in Rockville has been a problem for years, and many
restrooms don’t comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to a county memo. “Conditions are bad,” Council President George L. Leventhal said. “The building is in disrepair.” Because of a leak that sprang last week, the office of Councilman Sidney Katz (DDist. 3) of Gaithersburg had a plastic tarp, a hose and trash can to contain water coming in
on Monday. The council is mulling two options: renovate the current building or move to a new site. The first option is to replace the HVAC system, lighting and windows; upgrade restrooms; and renovate a first-floor auditorium. It also would involve overhauling fourth-, fifth- and sixth-floor space to make more room for council staff and the
See OVERHAUL, Page A-11
Rockville Pike would become so wide under a plan to overhaul the busy commercial strip that it will become an unwieldy, divisive behemoth through the heart of the city rather than making Rockville more pedestrian- and bikerfriendly, some business leaders and residents fear. Widening the Pike to a proposed 252 feet would make it difficult for people to cross it and discourage the kind of walkable community the plan is intended to create, residents said Monday night at a public hearing before
the mayor and council on the plan. The scale of the proposal is “outrageous,” and would make crossing the Pike a real challenge for pedestrians, said resident Marian Hull. Hull also questioned the idea of having bus rapid transit lanes down the middle of the new roadway and whether they would generate enough ridership to make them worthwhile. Rockville resident Jeff Lynch, who said he moved to the city from Washington, D.C., in 2000, also had concerns about the width of the Pike. Lynch said he can’t see the logic of widening a small section of the road, which is Md. 355, when areas north and south of it, such as White Flint in North
See PIKE, Page A-12
Survey says: Most folks dig Rockville 93 percent of respondents called city a good place to live n
BY
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
The vast majority of Rockville residents who responded to a recent survey commissioned by the city consider it a good place to live and raise children, although some concerns linger about safety, despite a drop in serious crimes reported in the city. In the survey, 93 percent of respondents described the city’s overall quality of life as “excellent” or “good,” while 93 percent also rated the city an excellent or good place to raise children.
But only 59 percent rated the city as at least a good place to retire, while 14 percent said it was a poor place to retire. The survey was conducted in October by the National Research Center in Boulder, Colo. Out of 2,000 randomly selected residents, 792 responded, for a response rate of 41 percent. The city conducts the survey every two years. The overall service of the city’s police department fell below the benchmark set by answers to similar questions given by other communities, while the survey also registered some concern about safety in the city. Still, 91 percent of respondents said they felt at least reasonably safe in their neigh-
See SURVEY, Page A-12
Olney Christian school gets new life Sale of campus proves to be a win-win n
BY
TERRI HOGAN STAFF WRITER
A “match made in heaven” has allowed a private Christian school to remain in Olney, leading to an enrollment surge, say school officials. The coed Washington Christian Academy opened in 1960 and operated in several leased facilities before purchasing 60 acres at 16227 Batchellors Forest Road. A 68,000-square-foot school for kindergart-
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ners through 12th-graders opened in 2008. While the school community was thrilled to finally have a permanent home, its opening coincided with a downturn in the economy. Construction was financed through taxexempt bonds, the school fell behind on payments and officials considered selling the building. Although day-to-day operations continued, administrators scrambled to keep the school afloat. “The hard part was being uncertain of the facility’s future, and not sure how things would work out,” said David Hawes, head of school. “We shared that with our families
and prospective families, and we saw significantly smaller numbers of new families.” In 2010, the school had 410 students. By 2013, there were 226. “Part of that was due to the instability,” Hawes said. “Obviously, location is a big part of why a family chooses a school.” Then came the match from heaven. The property sold in January 2014 to Bethel World Outreach Ministries. The church, founded in 1990, has more than 2,500 members in locations worldwide. Dwight Chamberlain, president of the school’s board, said Bethel is a “church-
See SCHOOL, Page A-12
A&E B-13 A-13 A-2 B-9 B-5 A-11 A-14 B-1
MORE THAN ONE WAY TO LOOK AT IT Silver Spring Stage play focuses on difficult parallels.
B-5
Volume 28, No. 10, Two sections, 32 Pages Copyright © 2015 The Gazette Please
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Michael Simmons (left) and Nathan Lee, kindergartners at Washington Christian Academy in Olney, work on an art project.