Reclaiming the Fort

Finally some good news on Fort Smallwood Park. According to the Sun, Baltimore City, which owns the park, and Anne Arundel County, in which the park sits, have reached an agreement where Anne Arundel County will take over control of the blighted 100-acre park. Anne Arundel County will pay no rent for the park, but will foot the bill for the estimated $10 million in clean-up costs.

For decades, the park, which is polluted with both asbestos and lead, has been a community nuisance, hosting drug dealers, poisoned playground equipment, and assorted unsavory activities. Baltimore City, which owns the park, failed to provide patrols for it, as police "usually place[d] a priority on more urgent matters within the city limits."

Congratulations to the individuals around the park who have been lobbying to get it into the County's hands, and congratulations to the City for finally recognizing that it doesn't have the resources to run the park in the proper manner. Let's hope Fort Smallwood becomes another beautiful waterfront park some time soon.

Holding Down the Fort

The more we learn about the 100-acre Fort Smallwood Park in Pasadena, the more obvious it becomes that Baltimore City has neither the funds, nor the wherewithal to properly manage the Park, and that it is in a truly sorry state.

The Park has sites that have such high levels of lead contamination (from paint), that in 1998 environmental analysts wrote, "There is a lot of work to be done at Fort Smallwood Park if children are expected to spend time here." For over 7 years, no steps have been taken to remediate the lead from the site. Nevertheless, the City claims that because they have fenced some of the contaminated buildings at the Park, "[it] is safe for public use."

A routine visit by the Sun reporter found that several of the fences were knocked down, or breached, and that there were no fences around the playground equipment, which sits on the lead contaminated soil. Broken glass covered one of playgrounds, and much of the equipment was rusted and/or had cracked paint.

Fort Smallwood Park, for better or worse, will stay in the City's hands, whether the County buys it next week or in 10 years. Other prime properties, such as the former Crownsville Hospital site, are unlikely to stick around in public hands so long. Ideally, of course, both sites would be purchased and remediated by entities that could afford to do so, and maintained for public recreation or open space. However, given budget realities, if action can only be taken on one this year, Crownsville would seem like a much wiser investment of County funds.

First, Do No Harm

As part of its cost-cutting strategy, the State is looking for ways to get rid of the 648-acre Crownsville Hospital campus. The site, which includes nearly 550 acres of land at the headwaters of the South River that could be classified as "open space", also contains 61 buildings which will need extensive asbestos remediation and sewer repairs before they can be re-occupied. The high price tag now has County Executive Owens reconsidering her previous enthusiasm for the site, stating, "Unfortunately, the more we learn about Crownsville, the more we become convinced that a scenario may not exist under which Anne Arundel County could reasonably afford to take control of the property." A fair objection, to be sure (although the County apparently has the funds to buy and maintain Fort Smallwood Park).

Predictably, the development wolves, notably John Pantelides and his minions, are just itching to get their hands on the property. "I still see tremendous opportunities for that property," said Pantelides, his eyes aglow with dollar signs.

It's important that one way or another this land be protected. What's less important, is whether the State or the County is the entity to do it.

Open Space Preserved

Good news on the green space conservation front. Today's Sun reports that 232 acres, with 7,000 ft of shoreline off Fort Smallwood Road and abutting the Patapsco River and several creeks, called White Pond Park, has been saved through a joint effort by the Weinberg Foundation and the State Program Open Space. The park, in Pasadena, will have even more acreage than Downs Park, which was acquired by the County in the 1980s.