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As part of its plans to restore a historic home on its athletic park along Olney-Laytonsville Road, the Olney Boys and Girls Community Sports Association is requesting a state bond bill for $500,000 for the project. OBGC officials plan to testify before the Senate and House on Saturday.

Because the bond bill requires matching funding, OBGC Executive Director Elisabeth Deal said the group will kick off a capital campaign later this year to raise the money needed to begin the $1.6 million project. Several years ago, the sports association received a $50,000 grant from the Maryland Historic Trust to develop architectural plans to restore Falling Green, a house built by the Brooke family circa 1770, on its property. It will eventually hold the organization's offices, a caretaker's residence and a display of the property's history.

The Falling Green house "is considered one of the truest to period of Georgian architecture in Montgomery County," Deal said, and restoring the house will let OBGC reach several goals: educate children on a part of Olney's history, streamline operations, cut costs and improve efficiency.

"Part of Olney's history is drifting away, and we want to prevent that by saving the Brooke family home," she said. Sharon Ann Holt, executive director of the Sandy Spring Museum, said the James Brooke family was the founding family in the area, "the first to settle here from the Annapolis area, and its descendents took the lead in emancipating their slaves."

Deal also said that having administrative offices off-site "forces us to make almost daily trips to the park to meet with maintenance crews, vendors, coaches and commissioners, which is not efficient use of our time."

"We think this is a good stimulus project because the construction and restoration will create jobs," she said.

Del. Anne R. Kaiser (D-Dist. 14) of Burtonsville, lead sponsor of the bill in the House, warned that although the amount requested is relatively small, Maryland may not fund any bond bills this year because of the economy.

Sen. Rona Kramer (D-Dist. 14) of Olney is co-sponsoring the bill in the Senate.

"Not only does OBGC serve over 7,000 kids, but it brings the parents into the community process," Kramer said. "There are thousands of parents that volunteer their time to make OBGC work, and that's very special, since not that many organizations bring that kind of enthusiasm from the entire family."

OBGC's Deal cited the organization's track record of accomplishments when it comes to renovations; it won the Montgomery County Historic Preservation Award in 2003 for restoring a late-1800s barn on its property.

In December, OBGC selected Montgomery County architect Craig Moloney of CEM Design for the project. The architect is working on the plans, but funding will determine how quickly the project progresses, Deal said.

"Hopefully, we will be able to move forward by the fall," she said.