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National Institutes of Health |
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Community Liaison Council Meeting
Minutes Draft WELCOME Janyce Hedetniemi, director of the Office of Community
Liaison (OCL), welcomed members, guests, and speakers. HANDOUTS Introductions Ms. Hedetniemi extended a special welcome to Howard Denis, representative from Bethesda to the Montgomery County Council, and asked all members and guests to introduce themselves to him. Sign on Rockville Pike Ms. Hedetniemi called the group's attention to the lighted "Season's Greetings" sign installed in the triangle of land owned by NIH between Rockville Pike and Woodmont Avenue, as an indication of NIH's sharing the use of this space with the community. David Dabney of the Bethesda Urban Partnership expressed his appreciation to NIH for the creative use of this area. NIH Temporary Parking Lot
Ms. Hedetniemi said NIH is still in the process of trying to decide whether to create a temporary parking area. NIH has not decided to create a parking area and certainly has not decided where it would be located. She said it definitely will not go in the buffer zone nor will any solution be considered before February. She said NIH is acutely aware of the community's concerns about added parking and asked the council to bear with her while NIH works for a solution in the best interests of all involved. The Pipeline Request for Proposals (RFP) Ms. Hedetniemi said the Pipeline RFP is completed and will be published soon. It incorporates community suggestions mentioned in past CLC meetings and in meetings of the Working Group on the Pipeline. PRESENTATION Update on the National Neuroscience Research Center (NNRC) by Robert McDonald, NNRC Project Manager,
Division of Engineering Services (DES), NIH In introducing Mr. McDonald, Ms. Serras-Fiotes reminded the group that Dr. Fischbach had introduced the idea of the NNRC to the CLC some months ago. She said Mr. McDonald would give the group an update on the plans. Mr. McDonald said that the NNRC will go in the space now occupied by Buildings 35 and 36, between Old Georgetown Road and Convent Drive. NIH hired a development manager and entered into an architect's contest which resulted in four firms submitting plans. The winner was Rafael Vinoly of New York City whose winning conceptual design was shown to the group. The plan would respect the 250-foot buffer zone next to Old Georgetown Road, and additional trees would be planted in the space. One-third of the new building space, replacing Building 35, the cafeteria, would consist of a structure three stories above grade from Old Georgetown Road. Behind this, toward the center of the campus would be a taller glassed in atrium and beyond that, where Building 36 is now, would be the final two-thirds of the new building with a still taller profile. Ms Hedetniemi explained that this complies with the Master Plan requirement that taller structures be built towards the center of the campus. In response to a question from Lucy Ozarin of Whitehall Condominium Association, Mr. McDonald explained that the atrium was designed to promote scientist interaction and discussions and would be a shared space in the center of the two parts of the building. Mr. McDonald said the NNRC, in a unique development for NIH, would draw on the work of scientists from a number of institutes, including the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institute on Aging, and others working in aspects of neuroscience. Robert Resnik of Huntington Terrace Citizens Association asked if the NNRC would replace the National Institute on Aging (NIA) Baltimore facility. Ms. Hedetniemi said that the intramural program of the NIA would remain in Baltimore. Mr. McDonald said when completed, this center would be the largest concentration of scientists working on neuroscience in the country. In moving the researchers to this center, NIH hopes to give them state of the art laboratories and more space than they presently have for their work. At this point, Mr. McDonald said, this building is on a 6.5- to 7-year schedule. The first phase would be to bring down Building 35 in September of 2001 and work to complete the first third of the NNRC within the following 27 months. When this part of the building is complete, the occupants of Building 36 would move into it. Building 36 then would come down, and the remaining two-thirds of the building would be completed by 2007. In response to a question from Mort Goldman of Luxmanor Citizens Association, Stella Serras-Fiotes of the NIH Office of Facilities Planning (OFP), said the NNRC is expected to be funded when the NIH budget is approved by Congress. Ralph Schofer of Maplewood Citizens Association asked if NIH has the heating and cooling capacity to support the building and was told that it does. Ms. Ozarin said the plan makes its appear as if it is made up of six different buildings. Mr. McDonald said it is modular with flexibility built into the design, but that it will function as one building. Mr. Schofer asked how many new hires would be brought to the NNRC. Ms. Serras-Fiotes said that the 700 employees of Building 36 would be moved to the center, the capacity of which would be approximately 900-1000. She added that some scientists presently working in Building 10 would also move to the NNRC, but she could not give an exact figure. Mr. Schofer asked if additional parking would be built or provided for this building, and Ms. Serras-Fiotes said it would not. Parking, she said, is not considered by project, but rather by overall campus needs. This led to a general discussion of parking on campus. Eleanor Rice of Locust Hill Citizens Association asked if NIH could expand Transhare to deal with parking problems. Ms. Serras-Fiotes explained that NIH continues to expand the use of Transhare but will probably reach the limit of its cost effectiveness soon. In response to Ms. Rice's suggestion that NIH support the Governor's proposal for buses on the beltway, Ms. Serras-Fiotes said NIH helped county and state transportation officials design and implement several such bus routes. Ms. Hedetniemi said many of NIH's problems with parking stem from the fact that we have several parking garages out of use due to renovation and that the projected Master Plan facility has not been realized. Pat Southerland of Huntington Parkway Citizens Association said the community should write to its representatives to encourage funding and support of NIH in getting parking funded. Ms. Rice said NIH is far in advance of Suburban Hospital and the Navy in working on parking and transportation issues. Ms. Hedetniemi said that she and Ms. Serras-Fiotes serve on various county advisory groups on parking and transportation and are always working to resolve these issues in relation to NIH. Ms. Hedetniemi said she will schedule an update and overview for the CLC on NIH initiatives on parking and transportation on the campus and in the surrounding area.
Ms. Hedetniemi will provide the CLC with an overview of all NIH activities related to parking and transportation throughout the campus and the county. NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be held on Thursday, January 18, 2001, at 4:00 p.m. in Conference Room D of the Natcher Conference Center, Building 45, on the NIH campus. Attendees: Guests: |
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