What should the State of Maryland do with large vacant historic complexes? A new report prepared for the Maryland Department of Planning calls for strategic policy changes and increased project funding to advance preservation and reuse.
For many years the historic Glenn Dale Hospital complex was de facto protected from incongruous development by a long-standing deed restriction. Now that there is a committed interest from a team of public agencies, preservation organizations, and private firms, in the redevelopment of the site, the deed restriction was deemed unnecessarily strict.
Thanks to a bill sponsored by Senator Katie Fry Hester, with language provided, in part, by Preservation Maryland, the Maryland Department of Planning is now seeking a qualified consultant to conduct a study to address the challenge of reusing large campuses of historic structures, such as Preservation Maryland’s Six-to-Fix project Glenn Dale Hospital in Prince George’s County.
As part of a major multi-year public and private initiative to rehabilitate the historic Glenn Dale Hospital in Prince George’s County, the Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) has commissioned Alexander Company to complete a new redevelopment study.
The new redevelopment study will take a fresh look at opportunities to adaptive reuse the historic site now that an onerous deed restriction, limiting redevelopment plans to a state-approved Continuing Care Retirement Center, has been lifted. Preservation Maryland joined the Glenn Dale Citizens Association and others in support of the legislation that lifted the restriction in order to advance the project in the face of deteriorating conditions at the site and because the legislation maintains that the building shall be reused.
Update: On Thursday, October 17, 2019, the Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission and the Alexander Company hosted a community listening session at the Glenn Dale Community Center about the future reuse concepts, construction types, and programming that might take place as part of the Glenn Dale Hospital project. The Alexander Company has tabulated and shared every written and verbal comment on their website. If you missed the meeting, you can still comment online.
In order to continue the public dialogue about the project, Alexander Company will host a public meeting later this month. From their invitation: The Alexander Company is leading a team of highly-skilled professionals to assess the adaptive reuse of the historic Glenn Dale Hospital site and develop new plans to bring something truly special to the surrounding community and to Prince George’s County. It is our commitment to ensure that you, our neighbors, have the opportunity to share your ideas and feedback about this redevelopment. To that end, we are hosting a community listening session and welcome you to attend.
Some of the topics to be discussed are historic preservation of the buildings, conservation of the campus-like setting, and evaluating vehicular and pedestrian circulation, parking, open space, community amenities, and utility infrastructure. The report is expected to take seven months and will first be presented to M-NCPPC.
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