Westwood Shopping Center demolition update (Photos)

The historic 1959 Westwood Shopping Center is no more at 5400 Westbard Avenue in Bethesda. Demolition of the strip mall is just about finished. In these photos you can see the staircase that was alongside Anglo Dutch Pools & Toys (or Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor, for longer-term residents), and remnants of the brick wall that surrounded the service alley and loading docks behind the shopping center. You can also see the extreme grade of the property, which was largely masked by the retail structure between the Westbard Avenue elevation and the elevation of the actual storefronts. The shopping center and its parking lot are soon to be replaced by an apartment building with ground floor retail space, and the Brownstones at Westbard Square townhome development.

Also gone? The monument sign at the “Farrell’s” entrance to the shopping center, which advertised anchor tenant Giant. It was removed prior to completion of the building demolition. 

That was a valuable sign placement, which could not be obtained today, as it is now illegal under the current sign code. Many businesses in Montgomery County go out of business because of our absurdly-minimalist sign regulations circa 2024. Drivers pass – and they keep on going, because they have no clue your business is operating “somewhere in there.”