Share Your Support with the County Council re: Saving the Landmark COMSAT Building in Clarksburg
Cesar Pelli, one of the most important and influential 20th century architects, in the 1960s designed a unique building in Montgomery County. The site was chosen for the purpose of scientific research and collaboration, as was the Atomic Energy Commission in Germantown, to be far enough away from Washington, D.C. to withstand a nuclear bomb. Siting the iconic silver and glass space-age looking complex to be seen from the new Interstate highway announced Modernist architecture as well as the dawn of a global communication industry in Montgomery County.
The United States would not have become the world leader in artificial communication satellites were it not for the work undertaken at COMSAT Laboratories. Real-time international phone communication and international, live television broadcast – aspects of global communication technology that we take for granted today – were pioneered by the scientists, researchers, and technicians at COMSAT Laboratories in the 1960s & 70s. [from the November 2024 Planning staff report on the Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan.]
The COMSAT Laboratories building – visible from I270 just south of the exit to Clarksburg – is currently threatened with demolition as as its owner is unsympathetic and the property was denied placement on the County Master Plan for Historic Preservation by the Planning Board, despite being acknowledged as significant by County, State, and National standards.
A public hearing by the Montgomery County Council on January 21, 2026, at Rocky Hill Middle School in Clarksburg brought out nearly 60 individuals to testify before public officials. Testimony from individuals representing nearby communities, historic preservation, stream and forest conservation, former COMSAT employees, and other groups voiced considerable citizen support for retaining this landmark and enabling creative solutions to reuse it within the growing community.
The president of COMARA, an active association of former COMSAT employees, described continuing recognition of the project’s place in American history. Preservationists pointed out examples of creative projects like Alexandria’s Torpedo Factory and properties that overcame owner objections such as the Silver Theatre and National Park Seminary in Forest Glen.
In-person and written testimony indicated overwhelmingly that Clarksburg residents don’t want any more housing built until there is a true community infrastructure: roads, library, community center, adequate street lighting and public transportation, protection of green areas and streams, an aquatic center. One speaker noted that iconic buildings such as COMSAT are true community landmarks and the ideal focal point to physically represent the “Clarksburg Gateway”!
You can find information and testimony at these links:
- The entire Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan, including the HPC report: https://montgomeryplanning.org/planning/communities/upcounty/clarksburg/clarksburg-gateway-sector-plan/
- Testimonies from January 21 hearing:
- Preservation community: Eileen McGuckian (MPI), Karen Burditt, Susan Soderberg, and Jeffrey Haines (HPC)
- Local civic associations and historical societies: John Parrish (Friends of Ten Mile Creek), Ginny Barnes (Conservation Montgomery), Maury Mechanick (COMARA), and Scott Knudson (Boyds Historical Society)
- Written testimony submitted to County Council: Gwen Wright, Mark Edwards, Dan Seamans, and Pamela Sanchez
Background Information and Next Steps
MPI has been an advocate for COMSAT since the early 2000s, when University of Maryland professors Isabelle Gournay and Mary Corbin Sies identified it as Montgomery County’s most notable example of Modernist Architecture. Soon after, the Maryland Historical Trust determined COMSAT eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and a unanimous Montgomery County Historic Preservation Commission recommended it be designated on the Master Plan for Historic Preservation. This was rejected by the Planning Board.
In 2006, MPI organized a four-day design charette with architects, planners, and neighbors to demonstrate that the owner’s plans for development could easily share the site with the COMSAT building. The charette included with a talk by Cesar Pelli on the impact of this building on his internationally renowned body of work and the work of other architects.
With Planning staff working on the Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan, the HPC again reviewed the significance of COMSAT, unanimously concluding that the property and its original setting met six criteria of 24A-3(b) in the County Code. Proponents agreed that the entire building and its full acreage were not vital to rejuvenating and integrating them into a future use. In July 2025, the Planning Board again voted against designation, convincing MPI and many others to continue to press the significance and potential of this unique landmark building.
Then followed the County Council’s public hearing on January 21, 2026.
The next steps are meetings of the Council Planning, Housing, and Parks Committee (PHP). The worksessions on the plan will be February 2, 11, and 23. PHP will make a recommendation to the full Council, including any revisions recommended to the Planning Board draft. Following Council adoption, the full M-NCPPC must approve a resolution making the plan official. Then follows a Sectional Map Amendment to implement zoning changes recommended by the Plan, which must be approved by the Planning Board and County Council.
The PHP worksessions are open for the public to attend in-person at the Council Office Building and livestreamed at the Council’s YouTube channel. Members of the public are not permitted to speak during the worksessions.
Please share your support with the County Council at https://www2.montgomerycountymd.gov/CCL_ContactForms/ContactCouncil.aspx with the subject Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan. Send an additional copy of your letter to the councilmember representing the district that COMSAT is in – Marilyn Balcomb: councilmember.balcombe@montgomerycountymd.gov.
Agendas and staff reports will be posted on the Council website here: Find Council Meetings and Agendas – Montgomery County Council, Maryland.
Here is a link to the Council’s YouTube channel, where livestreams will appear under the “live” tab once scheduled to begin: MoCoCouncilMD – YouTube.
In 1969 a set of buildings, designed for the purpose of scientific research and collaboration by the world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli, was constructed in Clarksburg, Maryland. The site was chosen, as was the Atomic Energy Commission in Germantown, to be far enough away from Washington, D.C. to withstand a nuclear bomb – it was during the “Cold War.” The iconic silver and glass space-age looking complex is visible from I-270, on the east side, just south of the Clarksburg exit.
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