The north end of Elm Street Park has been closed since September 4. The Town of Chevy Chase says everything north of Elm Street will stay off-limits to the public during construction, and it points families to Leland Park at 4300 Elm Street as the nearest open playground and basketball court. Montgomery Parks expects to finish the work in 2027. It has not given a reopening date.
When it reopens, the park will have two new playgrounds and a teen fitness zone. Montgomery Parks chose that equipment to differ from what is planned for Bethesda Market Park, the larger park planned next door on the Farm Women's Market parking lots. Market Park has no design date and no construction date. For the next several years, the Elm Street playgrounds will be one half of a two-park plan with only one half built.
Why the Fence Went Up Now
The renovation is a trail project before it is a park project. Elm Street Park covers two acres at 4600 Elm Street. It sits inside Town of Chevy Chase limits but is maintained by Montgomery Parks. The Purple Line required the Capital Crescent Trail to be realigned. Planners studied two options, a tunnel under Wisconsin Avenue and a surface route through Elm Street Park, and the Montgomery County Planning Board approved concept plans for both in October 2021. Funding for the tunnel was pushed past the current cycle, so the county Department of Transportation went ahead with the surface route. We covered that tunnel debate in our look at what the Capital Crescent Trail's reopening actually means.
Running the trail through the park meant rebuilding the park's north end, where the old playgrounds, the half basketball court and the seating areas were. MCDOT designed the trail and is paying for both the trail and the park renovation. Montgomery Parks designed the park. Phase 3, the current work, will carry the trail through the park to the future Purple Line Trail beneath the Bethesda Crossing building.
The south end of the park is outside the closed area. That is the part with the benches, gazebos, walking paths, open lawn and mature trees.
Phase 2 is the piece along 47th Street. It is a 10-foot-wide shared-use path that runs from Willow Lane to the Elm Street promenade. Montgomery Parks reported in mid-September that it was about 90% complete and expected to finish in October. The Town's list of Phase 2 improvements also includes a park entry plaza, sidewalk upgrades, lighting and new trees. MCDOT's own project page still gives "winter" as the completion window.
What Is Being Built Behind the Fence
The design came out of community outreach that restarted in fall 2024. People asked for inclusive play on flat, stable surfaces, for climbing and swinging equipment, for better lighting and seating, for a safer trail crossing, and for protection of the trees and open space in the south end. Both new playgrounds sit on a flat, cork-based poured-in-place surface with seating and boulders.
| Zone | Ages | Equipment |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern playground | 2 to 12 per Montgomery Parks; 2 to 5 per the Town of Chevy Chase | Enclosed swing with harness, low-floor cone spinner, in-ground bouncers, cozy dome, rocking see-saw with walk-in seat, Hula Loop, treehouse with a 4-foot slide, communication board |
| Middle playground | 5 to 12 | Climbing towers of 8 and 15 feet, two slides, rope tunnel, hammocks, balance lines, interactive panels |
| Fitness zone | 13 and up | Dip station, calisthenics rack, stepper platforms, push-up bars, and the "Ocean Ring" for balance work and teen hangouts |
The Town also lists fencing between the play areas and the trail, wide trail crossings with clear sight lines, and two bioretention areas for stormwater. The promenade along Elm Street will be renovated, with lighting, seating, a drinking fountain and infrastructure for community events. The park has hosted Montgomery Parks' Acoustics and Ales series before, which makes the event wiring a practical addition.
The Half of the Plan Not Yet Started
According to Montgomery Parks, the equipment in all three zones "is intentionally distinct from those planned for Bethesda Market Park to ensure a unique experience." Market Park's plan calls for a stage, a shade structure, flexible lawn, an amphitheater, a water feature, small and large dog parks, table games and a multigenerational active zone. It would sit on top of a new underground garage. Combined with Elm Street Park, it would give downtown Bethesda about four acres of park space next to the historic Farm Women's Market.
The two parks were designed to be used together. Elm Street Park gets the climbing and the fitness equipment, and Market Park would get the gathering space, the dog runs and the water. Right now only the Elm Street half is under construction.
Market Park is part of a public/private partnership that includes the Bethesda Market project, co-developed by Bernstein Development Corporation and EYA Multifamily. The Planning Board approved the project's sketch plan on October 24, 2019. As of the August 2026 update on Montgomery Parks' Bethesda Market Park project page, the park was still "in the preliminary planning phase." A preliminary plan and site plan still have to be submitted and approved, and later stages are listed as TBD.
The Town of Chevy Chase's January 2026 newsletter explained the pause. The developers stopped design work in June while Bernstein bought 7101 Wisconsin Avenue, the office building at the northeast corner of Wisconsin and Leland. They plan to replace it with a residential building that ties into the rest of the project. The newsletter said no date had been set for a site plan. It laid out a likely sequence, which is a projection and not a schedule:
- Design and engineering restart, expected in the first quarter of 2026
- A site plan filing, with no date yet set
- Planning Board review and approval, expected in early 2027
- About another year for permits and financing
- Major construction starting in 2028 and running into 2031
The Town has committed $7.5 million to the project. That money stays in Town reserves, earning interest, until it is paid out. The newsletter also said the Town would look for public benefits once design resumed, such as widening the park where it meets Leland Street.
The rest of the downtown park list is further behind. The county's tracker lists the Veteran's Park Civic Green, the Eastern Capital Crescent Urban Greenway and the Bethesda Eastern Greenway at planning or acquisition stages, and none has an opening date. Montgomery Planning says the Civic Green expansion still needs more property. Of the park projects promised in the 2017 Bethesda Downtown Plan, the Elm Street playgrounds are the first with crews on site.
Where to Play Until 2027
Montgomery Parks offers its own suggestion for the wait. Its Downtown Bethesda Park Projects page sends anyone who "can't wait" to Caroline Freeland Park "for a glimpse of what is to come." These are the closest open options:
- Leland Park, 4300 Elm Street. The Town's recommended substitute. It has a playground, a basketball court, a small multiuse field and two tennis courts, farther down Elm Street from the fence.
- Caroline Freeland Park. It reopened on November 9, 2024, after a $3.3 million renovation that added a central lawn, a seating terrace, accessible pathways, a larger playground, bench swings, bike parking and an entry plaza. The whole park covers one acre.
- Chase Avenue Park. A smaller accessible playground near downtown Bethesda, with a patio and seating areas.
- The south end of Elm Street Park. The lawn, gazebos and walking paths are still open below Elm Street.
Caroline Freeland is the closest preview of the Elm Street design. It pairs a renovated accessible playground with a flexible lawn on a single acre. Montgomery Parks posts Elm Street updates on its project page, and the Town of Chevy Chase posts them in its News Flash. When either one sets a reopening date for the north end, that will be the date to plan around.
If the timing of the playgrounds, the trail and Market Park factors into where your family lives next, Jill Schwartz Group can talk through how each block between Elm Street and Leland is changing. Request a private, confidential consultation.
