Department of General Services Earns Prestigious Honor Award for Architecture Design of Wheaton Library and Community Recreation Center

For Immediate Release: Friday, October 2, 2020

Montgomery County’s Wheaton Library and Community Recreation Center has won the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Maryland Honor Award in the Institutional Architecture category.  The award was presented at a virtual award ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 24.

Under the management of the County’s Department of General Services’ (DGS) Division of Building Design and Construction (DBDC), Grimm + Parker served as the architect and Costello Construction was the general contractor.

The new Wheaton Library and Community Recreation Center is a state-of-the-art 92,000-square foot facility, which includes a 79,000-square foot underground parking garage. The building opened on Sept. 8, 2019. The facility, located at 11701 Georgia Ave, is the first combined multiplex to include a library, community recreation center, Friends of the Library used bookstore, and local park.

“This award reflects the exceptional work of our DBDC team, along with Grimm+Parker, and Costello Construction to find an innovative way to design and construct a dynamic facility that uniquely and efficiently brings literacy and leisure into a single shared space,” said Director of DGS David Dise. “This award acknowledges the excellent work of the entire team to deliver a first of its kind facility for our partners in the Public Libraries, Recreation Department Friends of the Libraries and the deserving residents of Montgomery County.”

The facility designed for residents of all ages, the building amenities include a large outside playground area, multi-court gymnasium with elevated track, exercise / game rooms, arts and activities rooms, a multi-purpose social hall, computer lab, reading areas and a used book store.

More information about this outstanding construction project is available on the DGS website.

Release ID: 20-553
Media Contact: Judy Stiles 240-463-2442