The lot between East-West Highway and Kennett Street used to hold a National Tire and Battery. It now holds a bocce court, a ping-pong table, two dog runs and a lawn. Bottleworks Lane Park at 1110 East-West Highway is only one acre. Even so, it is the first place on the south end of downtown Silver Spring where you can spend an afternoon without a ticket, a reservation or a date on a festival calendar.
That matters this fall in particular. Most of downtown's weekend energy still runs on a schedule, and the schedule is busy. Veterans Plaza has a festival almost every October weekend, AFI Silver has four film series between now and mid-November, and the Thanksgiving Parade closes Georgia Avenue the Saturday before the holiday. The new park adds something else, a fixed spot that is just open, a few blocks from where all that programming happens.
A $7.5 million acre with a long memory
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission bought the site for $7.5 million in 2021. Montgomery Parks started construction in 2023, which included cleaning up contaminated soil from its auto-center years. The design follows the Silver Spring Downtown and Adjacent Communities Plan and feedback from a 2022 open house and online survey.
The name came from a public vote, where it won 71 percent. Its working title had been South Silver Spring Urban Park, and Kennett Street Urban Park was also on the ballot. Montgomery Parks planning supervisor Henry Coppola said the name "references the park's industrial roots while honoring the former Coca-Cola Bottling Works plant on the site and the nearby former Canada Dry Bottling Works plant."
Bottleworks is the second new urban park downtown in recent years. The first was Gene Lynch Park, the triangle at Colesville Road and Wayne Avenue. Gene Lynch is a small corner to pass through. Bottleworks is built for staying. Montgomery Parks lists these features:
- A multipurpose court for basketball, futsal and flexible recreation
- An exercise area with outdoor fitness equipment for all levels
- Game spaces for ping-pong, cornhole and bocce
- A multi-age playground with nature-play features
- Dog runs with separate areas for large and small dogs
- Picnic and lawn areas, plus a community plaza and terrace for small events
Montgomery Parks scheduled the ribbon-cutting for Friday, September 18, from 5 to 7 p.m., with beer and food trucks and live music from the School of Rock. The Downtown Silver Spring events listing now marks that opening as a past event. Montgomery Parks director Miti Figueredo described the park as bringing "much-needed park space to downtown Silver Spring where neighbors can get together and enjoy time outdoors."
The dog runs come with county rules
For dog owners in the downtown apartment and condo buildings, a fenced run split by size within walking distance is the biggest change here. The runs follow Montgomery Parks' standard dog-park rules, and a few of them surprise people on their first visit:
- Keep a leash with you at all times, even when your dog is off-leash inside the run.
- One handler can bring no more than three dogs.
- Dogs need current vaccinations, licensing and ID, plus rabies tags.
- Aggressive dogs and dogs in heat are not allowed.
- Food and glass containers are not allowed in the run.
- Children under 16 must be with an adult.
- Pick up after your dog.
As for hours, Montgomery Parks says dog parks are generally open dawn to dusk unless posted otherwise, and most follow the hours of their host park. The park's own profile page doesn't spell out hours yet, so check the signs at the gate before planning an after-work visit as days get shorter.
The block around the park is still filling in
A park becomes an anchor when there are places nearby worth walking to. East-West Highway is getting there, but some pieces are further along than others.
| Address | What it is | Status as of late September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 1110 East-West Highway | Bottleworks Lane Park | Opening event held September 18 |
| 1115 East-West Highway | Dacha Beer Garden, on the former Denizens Brewing Co. site | Renovation underway, opening timeline unclear |
| 1200 East-West Highway | Emma's Torch café and culinary training center | Public opening announced for June 12 |
Dacha is directly across the street from the park. In April, Source of the Spring reported demolition of the indoor and outdoor structures and no opening date. An earlier hope to open "in the summer" has since passed. Bethesda Magazine's September 11 story on the park said Dacha was renovating the former Denizens space and that its opening timeline was unclear. Dacha's hiring page currently lists six Silver Spring roles, including general manager, line cook, bartender, server, runner/busser and door staff. That suggests an opening is getting closer, though no date has been posted.
Once Dacha opens, this stretch will pair a public lawn with a beer garden across the street, something downtown hasn't had at its south end before. For now, the park is ready and the beer garden is still on its way.
Up at Ellsworth Place, a reset instead of an expansion
The north end of downtown is changing too, mostly by rebuilding. Ellsworth Place came under new management this year. Syracuse-based Spinoso Real Estate Group now leases and manages the mall.
Commas, the 13,000-square-foot food hall on the third level, held a one-year grand reopening on Saturday, September 26. General manager Yecenia Marroquin told Source of the Spring the reopening would bring two new vendors, Kellem Coffee and Nips Juice House. It also brought back two favorites, Tokoa Cheesesteaks and Tato's, which had been closed since June while vendor agreements were finalized under the new ownership. Nips closed its storefront at 8710 Cameron Street in August after five years. Its Commas stall will open "as soon as permitting allows."
The former TJ Maxx space now has a tenant as well. DMV Furniture Outlet opened its showroom there in September.
A few blocks off the mall, smaller openings have added more Ethiopian coffee and grab-and-go options to downtown. Buna & Barley opened at 901 Silver Spring Avenue with snacks, prepared meals, beer and wine. A follow-up story in Source of the Spring said the shop carries Ethiopian coffee and tea, with a particular focus on the Ethiopian-style macchiato. The Yirgacheffe Coffee cart has been serving at 8600 Georgia Avenue, at the Georgia and Colesville corner, since August. Momiji Sushi & Izakaya is hiring for its space at 1201 Fidler Lane in the former Cubano's building, with no opening date yet. Many of the summer's openings are covered in our summer 2026 Silver Spring dining map.
How the scheduled side of downtown fits around the park
With the park running every day in the south and Veterans Plaza hosting events up north, a fall weekend can cover both. The plaza and AFI Silver lineup through Thanksgiving:
October at Veterans Plaza
- Freshfarm Farmers Market, Saturdays October 3, 10, 17 and 24, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Buckets & Beats Youth Block Party, October 2, and Dominican Culture Fest, October 4
- Bachata and Salsa Festival, Sunday, October 11, 1 to 9 p.m.
- Fall-O-Ween, Sunday, October 25, noon to 5 p.m., with free admission, vendors and costume parades for both children and pets
- The Silver Spring Ice Rink season runs October through April. No opening day has been posted.
At AFI Silver
- Latin American Film Festival through October 7, followed by Noir City DC from October 8 to 22, with Eddie Muller introducing films October 8 to 10 and Foster Hirsch October 16 to 18
- Halloween on Screen, October 23 to 31, including a NOSFERATU screening with live accompaniment and THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW with a live shadowcast
- Silent Cinema Showcase, October 23 to November 15, then Classic Film Weekend, November 12 to 15
November 21 The Montgomery County Thanksgiving Parade starts at 10 a.m. at Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street, heads south on Georgia Avenue and ends at Silver Spring Avenue. One of the county's FAQ entries lists November 22. The headline date is the 21st, so check the road-closure schedule with the county before you move your car.
Fall-O-Ween is the clearest example of the two ends working together. The pet costume parade at Veterans Plaza runs on a Sunday afternoon. The dog runs on East-West Highway are open before and after it.
If you live within walking distance of Bottleworks Lane and want to know what your home is worth now that the block has a park, The Foley Group can put together a free home valuation built on the downtown Silver Spring streets we know block by block. Our Silver Spring neighborhood page has more on the area.
