HTCA History
The Huntington Terrace Citizens’ Association (HTCA) was formed in 1937 to fight what the citizens considered to be a disproportionate share of the cost for curbs and gutters. The Association was reactivated in the 1940’s to limit the incursion of Suburban Hospital into the neighborhood. The hospital, founded in 1942, was a major concern of the neighborhood and the Association through the period from the early 1940’s to the early 1990’s.
In 1972, Suburban Hospital announced plans to build a large new wing and parking garage. The Citizens’ Association felt that the proposed expansion was unnecessary, and fought it in the courts. In 1976, a compromise was reached with the granting of a special exception to the hospital by the Montgomery County Board of Appeals. The special exception for Suburban Hospital’s expansion contained several restrictions important to the neighborhood. These were that “The hospital should not:
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charge for parking;
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increase the size of the parking structure;
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use the houses it owned along Grant, Lincoln and McKinley Streets for medical offices;
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build on the green space in the middle of the block behind the Lambert Building between Lincoln and Southwick Streets.”
The expansion at this time resulted in the hospital’s “D” wing and the parking structure at the corner of Lincoln St. and Old Georgetown Road.
In 1979 the Citizens’ Association, alarmed by the fact that non-residents and some hospital staff were parking on our streets, petitioned Montgomery County to restrict weekday parking on neighborhood streets to residents with parking stickers. With the development of the Metro system this restriction became even more important.
In 1984 Suburban Hospital announced plans to construct a 6-story building facing Old Georgetown Road to be used as doctors’ offices. To carry out this expansion the Hospital petitioned the Association to support the repeal and/or modification of the special exception granted in 1976. The residents of HT voted against both the repeal fo the special exception and the proposed expansion. The project was abandoned after the Board of Appeals twice voted down the planned construction.
Since 1990, HTCA has worked to improve communications with the hospital. While not always agreeing with the hospital, HTCA has worked closely with Suburban Hospital to try to minimize the impact of hospital expansion and construction on the neighborhood. For example, HTCA contributed to the exterior design of the senior assisted living facility at the corner of Southwick Street and Old Georgetown Road. It also participated with the hospital, the county and the Park and Planning Commission in design of landscaping, lighting, traffic and directional signs for the hospital grounds.
HTCA successfully petitioned the Department of Transportation (DOT) to prevent eastbound morning traffic from turning into the neighborhood off Greentree Road. It has supported efforts by residents to reduce speeding through the community on McKinley, Roosevelt and Garfield Streets.
In the early 1980’s, the biggest issue for Huntington Terrace was the County’s proposal to close Bradley Hills Elementary School. HTCA worked closely with the Bradley Hills PTA to defeat a plan that would have closed a neighborhood school. Bradley Hills was subsequently renovated at a cost of $1,000,000 and the school’s design has won awards for the architects.
HTCA is represented on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Community Liaison Council that meets to discuss construction and expansion on the NIH campus.
