The Crossvines is Officially Launched by Leaders & Citizens

Source: The Monocacy Monacle
By: Link Hoewing

Some two hundred attendees, including county and state leaders and citizens from across the county, came together on June 12 to officially launch The Crossvines. The new facility, built on what was once the Poolesville Golf Course Clubhouse, restaurant, and meeting room, features a huge events venue, a spacious restaurant and bar, meeting rooms, a large fully-equipped kitchen, and a grapecrushing and bottling facility. The golf course remains in place, and it too has been refurbished.

*Ribbon-cutting ceremony for the soon-to-open Crossvines Vineyard on West Willard Road.*

The new facility has several purposes. One of its primary functions is to lease to wineries space in the grapecrushing facility to help new businesses get started by avoiding the costs of having to invest in their own grapecrushing and bottling operations. Another is to grow a number of grape varieties and conduct research on various aspects of the winemaking business. The University of Maryland is partnering with the county in conducting the research. The new restaurant and events venue is also intended to help promote the Ag Reserve by focusing heavily on promoting and using fresh produce from farmers in the area.

The construction of The Crossvines is also intended to help promote economic growth in Poolesville and the Upcounty by attracting visitors from throughout the DMV. It will also provide jobs and opportunities for many nearby residents. A recent job fair held to hire prospective workers at the new facility included a number of applicants from Poolesville and the surrounding area.

The facility was built by the Montgomery County Revenue Authority (MCRA). The Revenue Authority was created in 1957 and is both an instrumentality of Montgomery County and a public corporation. The MCRA was established to construct, improve, equip, furnish, maintain, acquire, operate, and finance projects devoted wholly or partially for public use, good, or general welfare. It does everything from management consulting to operating the airpark to managing golf courses and swimming facilities.

Keith Miller, the CEO of MCRA, kicked off the festivities by pointing out that the project had taken ten years to conceive and build. He said that he had talked with then-Councilmember now County Executive Marc Elrich about projects in the Ag Reseve, and as he had left the meeting, he’d heard only one word “wine.” Elrich said he had attended a seminar about winemaking, and the immense financial impact of the wine industry detailed in the seminar had stuck with him. While these two leaders undeniably helped initiate and conceive this project, it should also be noted that the Town of Poolesville sponsored an economic study by a firm headed by former Councilmember Mike Knapp in 2012 that specifically identified a grapecrush facility as an idea that could help spur economic growth in the Upcounty.

During the presentations, it was mentioned that the Montgomery County legislative delegation, including Sen. Brian Feldman and Del. Lily Qi, David Fraser-Hidalgo, and Linda Foley, also was able to secure $3 million in funding to help boost the construction of The Crossvines. County Councilmembers Andrew Friedson, Marilyn Balcombe, and Laurie-Ann Sayles also attended the event. Miller said the new restaurant is expected to open by the middle of July.