Award highlights the success of temporarily reimagining a portion of Main Street in Damascus in October 2024
Baltimore, Md. – The Montgomery County Planning Department , part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission , (M-NCPPC) was recognized by the Maryland Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) with a Merit Award for the Damascus Placemaking Festival .
The award ceremony was held at the Baltimore Museum of Industry on May 6, 2025. Montgomery Planning’s team of planners and their consultants from Design Collective, Inc. and Graham Projects received the Merit Award for Analysis & Planning. The project was highlighted due to its community engagement efforts.
“The Damascus Placemaking Festival was a testament to the power of community collaboration, creativity, and vision,” said Montgomery Planning Director Jason Sartori. “To see our efforts recognized is not only an honor, but a reflection of what can happen when the community comes together with a shared purpose. This award belongs to everyone who helped shape a vibrant space for Damascus.”
About the Damascus Placemaking Festival
The Damascus Placemaking Festival temporarily transformed one block of a car-centric Main Street in Damascus, into a two-day community street festival that brought together more than 2,000 participants with a collaborative event that reflected the community’s identity. The event featured a performing arts space, participatory artwork, a bike lane and a vibrant outdoor seating area.
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The Damascus Placemaking Festival demonstrated a need for pedestrian-focused improvements and community space in the heart of town. It created a renewed urgency to implement the 2006 Damascus Master Plan, which provides clear guidance to enhance Main Street’s sense of place and pedestrian realm. The Maryland ASLA Awards celebrate the exceptional work and accomplishments of its members. Founded in 1972, the Maryland Chapter of the ASLA is the professional association for landscape architects, representing more than 335 members statewide. Landscape architecture is a comprehensive discipline of land analysis, planning, design, management, preservation, and rehabilitation. Learn more about ASLA .
In October 2024, Montgomery Planning led an initiative to reimagine a segment of the Damascus Main Street as a vibrant community space through a festival. Leading up to the event, planners and project partners worked with Damascus residents, businesses, and other stakeholders to plan a community festival that incorporates cost-effective temporary interventions to improve the Main Street core of Damascus and help strengthen community ties to local businesses. The event cultivated a shared vision for shaping the future of Main Street and Damascus that embraces the community’s agrarian past and small-town character while addressing the needs of the future. Watch the video recap . The festival was free to the public and featured local vendors and entertainment for all ages.
What is placemaking?
Placemaking inspires people to collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of the community and strengthen the connection between community and the places they share. Placemaking refers to a collaborative process that shapes our public realm to maximize value. Beyond just promoting better urban design principles, placemaking facilitates creative thinking, capitalizes on community assets, and contributes to the community’s health, happiness, and well-being. More than livable; these places are loved. Put simply, placemaking incorporates community input and sentiment to make people feel good about where they live, work, or play and imagine the possibilities of their neighborhood. The goals of Montgomery Planning’s Placemaking Strategic Plan include:
For updates and link to press release, see here: https://montgomeryplanning.org/?p=62942