Gene Lynch Urban Park is a 0.25-acre new park located at 8410 Colesville Road in the heart of downtown Silver Spring, Maryland. The park is located at the intersection of Colesville Road and Wayne Avenue, immediately adjacent to the former Discovery Channel Headquarters building and across the street from the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center and Silver Spring Metro Station. The Silver Spring Metro Station is the second busiest station in the Metro system with over 60,000 people boarding per day. A separated, two-way bike lane was recently constructed on Wayne Avenue adjacent to the park, making this park highly visible and accessible to many pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists. This new triangular-shaped park is currently under construction and is expected to be completed in early Spring 2023.

Park Design and Features:

The park is named for the late Planning Board Commissioner, Gene Lynch. A triangular-shaped granite planter will be located at the visually prominent intersection of Colesville Road and Wayne Avenue. The planter will be inscribed with the name of the park and will include a brief narrative about Commissioner Lynch along with several meaningful quotes. The names of the communities who together helped shape today’s downtown Silver Spring are also highlighted within the park.

The park includes an open lawn panel for activities and events, terraced cast stone seat walls, a concrete and steel pergola structure with bench swings, other site furnishings, extensive landscape planting, irrigation and lighting. An approximate 10-foot by 13-foot blank concrete wall is located at the center of the pergola as the focal point in the park and is the intended location of the public art project. The pergola includes 10 concrete support columns. The columns, and the areas between the columns which will receive laser cut, stainless steel panels with a fish scale pattern, could also be considered as part of the artwork.

Special Considerations:

The park is currently under construction. To view progress photos of the pergola and wall, please click this link to review the photos in our Flickr album. The finish of the wall and columns is a sand blasted, dark grey tinted, cast-in-place concrete. The artist’s installation work shall include any surface preparation or priming required for the concrete surface, the artwork, and any recommended finish coats or sealants.

Water and electricity will be available if needed. Special care must be taken to protect the adjacent recently finished features and surfaces.

Project Goals:

• The artwork should improve the overall visitor experience by creating a memorable and strong sense of place.
• The artwork may express the community’s culture and identity and may reference elements from the surrounding geographic area, natural systems, or site history.
• The artwork may draw from current historical movements and or events.
• The artwork may use any media appropriate for installation on outdoor walls, columns, and/or the spaces between the columns. It should be integral to the pergola structure and could take the form of a mural, mosaic, 3-D mounted sculpture, etc., and may include a combination of different media.
• The artwork shall be permanent, durable, and easy to repair and maintain.

Please see commission link for full project information and submission instructions. Submit all clearly labeled application materials to [email protected].