SS/silver.pr        97-284              Contact:  Susan Hoffmann, 301-565-7300


NEW RED SIDEWALK SWEEPERS,
"RED, HOT & BLUE" EXHIBIT
HELP BRIGHTEN SILVER SPRING        For Immediate Release:  Sept. 15, 1997



     Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan and County Councilmember
Derick Berlage today unveiled two "colorful" new additions to help brighten downtown Silver
Spring:  the new, bright red sidewalk sweeping machines, which will now be patrolling daily
throughout the central business district, and artwork from the National Portrait Gallery's
critically acclaimed exhibition of "Red, Hot & Blue!  A Salute to American Musicals."
     "We're not just revitalizing Silver Spring in the future, we're revitalizing it now with
cleaner streets and spectacular works of art," said Duncan.  "Both the new sidewalk sweepers
and the 'Red, Hot & Blue' exhibition will serve to remind our residents and our businesses
that downtown Silver Spring is a community that is moving forward."
     "The new sweepers and this exciting exhibit are further examples of Silver Spring
working every day, in every way, to keep the community clean and vibrant," said Berlage.

    Sidewalk Sweepers Help to Spruce Up Downtown, Cut Maintenance Costs
     Silver Spring's new fleet of three sidewalk sweeping machines are of the same type
being used successfully in downtowns across America and throughout the world, including
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such high-profile locations as Buckingham Palace and Times Square.  Locally, one unit has
been in use in downtown Bethesda since earlier this year.
     The machines purchased for Silver Spring cost $24,000 apiece, but are expected to
reduce the County's annual maintenance costs in the downtown area by up to $45,000.  Staff
from the Silver Spring Urban Crew, a corps of young men and women who help to maintain
the downtown area, will operate the units five days a week.
     In addition to operating as a high-powered vacuum to collect trash on city sidewalks
and nearby areas, the machines can be used for leaf collection during the fall months.  In the
winter, they can be converted into sidewalk snow plows.
Art Exhibit Brings Stars Such as Gene Kelly, Shirley Temple to Silver Spring
     Selected artworks from the National Portrait Gallery's recently completed exhibition: 
"Red, Hot & Blue!  A Salute to American Musicals" are now on display in the window-front
of the former Rite Aid store in the old Silver Spring Shopping Center at Georgia Avenue and
Colesville Road.  "Red, Hot & Blue" concluded a nearly one-year run at the gallery in July
and is scheduled to begin a national tour in 1999 through the Smithsonian Institution
Traveling Exhibition Service.
     More than two dozen displays from the exhibition are being showcased in Silver
Spring.  Both the front facade of the Silver Spring Shopping Center, in which the artworks
are being exhibited, and the adjacent Silver Theatre have been deemed historic and their
preservation will be key components in the future redevelopment plans for the downtown.
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     Silver Spring successfully earned the opportunity to exhibit the "Red, Hot & Blue"
pieces as a result of a contact made with the National Portrait Gallery by Silver Spring
business owner and community leader Daniel Meijer, on behalf of the Friends of the Silver
Theatre.

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