The House of Representatives has passed The Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2), a comprehensive infrastructure bill that includes enhancements and temporary emergency measures for the federal Historic Tax Credit, thanks in part to the advocacy of Preservation Maryland and our national partners.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who represents Maryland’s 5th District announced that the House would vote on the Great American Outdoors Act (HR 7092), the single largest investment in the preservation of historic, cultural, and natural resources for public lands in our generation, by the end of July.
A leading consulting firm in the study of preservation, revitalization, and reinvestment economics, PlaceEconomics, has just released a clear case for including historic preservation principles squarely into COVID-19 recovery efforts.
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.
Preservation Maryland has been actively advocating for the preservation and adaptive reuse of Glenn Dale Hospital for over 10 years. Previously listed as threatened and included on our Endangered Maryland list, the organization renewed our commitment and named the project a Six-to-Fix site in 2016. With Six-to-Fix designation, Preservation Maryland commits significant staff time for advocacy and outreach for the project.
Alexander Company, known for its successful approaches to difficult preservation projects, completed a feasibility study from a market perspective that detailed the unsurmountable challenges of reusing the site as a Continuing Care Retirement Center (CCRC) as prescribed by the deed restriction.
During the 2019 legislative session, the Prince George’s Delegation of the Maryland General Assembly introduced legislation to assist in moving the redevelopment of Glenn Dale Hospital forward. The intention of bill HB622 is to lift the deed restriction that only allowed for the reuse of the property as a Continuing Care Retirement Center (CCRC).
It is incredibly important to note that while the CCRC restriction has been lifted, the legislation specifically states that the historic campus shall be adaptively reused. The bill was passed and had the support of Preservation Maryland, the Glenn Dale Citizen’s Association, and others.
Additionally, as a result of Preservation Maryland advocacy, Glenn Dale Hospital was part of a larger study on the redevelopment of historic government complexes. Preservation Maryland served on the steering committee for that study, and a report on the findings will be released shortly.