A transformation is taking place in the heart of Glen Burnie.
Over the last few days, volunteers have teamed up with a Texas nonprofit to paint colorful murals and assemble temporary structures at the Glen Burnie Town Center, reimagining the bleak plaza as a vibrant community hub that residents can relish all summer.
By experimenting with features and bringing in vendors, officials hope to create buzz in the community about the town center ahead of a permanent rebuild by the Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County.
Reimagining the plaza is central to the county’s revitalization of the Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard Corridor in Glen Burnie, with mixed commercial and residential development planned for a nearby county-owned industrial property and the state-owned Cromwell Light Rail Station.
The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.
Anne Arundel Economic Development Corp. and the nonprofit it tasked with the town center’s temporary remodeling, Better Block, are hosting a festival Friday and Saturday to celebrate the refreshed plaza, which features an event pavilion, terraced lounge and market area.
“I’m looking forward to just seeing what they can do with it,” County Executive Steuart Pittman said in an interview. “I’ve never seen anything like this before, an activation of a site that’s done with temporary structures. I love the Glen Burnie Town Center. It’s a really neat space, but it needed a little something to attract people to it.”
Created in the late-1980s, the plaza was designed to be a community hub, walkable from some neighborhoods in Glen Burnie, County Councilwoman Allison Pickard, a Democrat who represents the area, told The Banner.
“But the current design hasn’t necessarily fostered that engagement,” Pickard said. “It’s underutilized.”
The town center currently features a building the county leases to Anne Arundel Community College. Several restaurants and a Food Lion are adjacent to the plaza. Across the street sits the county’s Office of Emergency Management, a free parking garage and the Glen Burnie District Court.
The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.
Anne Arundel Economic Development secured a $250,000 grant from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development for placemaking efforts in the Glen Burnie area, said Amy Gowan, president and CEO of the quasi-governmental agency.
They used $130,000 of the grant to commission the services of Better Block, which works with communities and their elected officials to reimagine public spaces, to “visualize the possibilities for the revitalization of the Glen Burnie plaza,” Gowan said in an interview.
Incorporating resident input, Better Block came up with a rendering for a town center featuring colorful murals and temporary structures. They put the plan into action with an army of volunteers beginning Wednesday.
“We want to be able to make it an attractive place for residents, visitors and patrons to our local businesses,” said Gowan, describing the rendering as “colorful, vibrant, inviting.”
Congress has earmarked approximately $1 million for the town center’s redevelopment. That project is currently in the design phase, with no date yet for breaking ground.
The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.
“Over the next four months, it’s sort of trial and error: What works? What features were installed this week? What makes sense to include in the future?” Pickard said. “So before we spend millions of dollars redeveloping the plaza area, we want to know what the community wants.”
Pickard, who is running to succeed term-limited Pittman as county executive, has championed redevelopment in Glen Burnie, the second fastest growing large place in Maryland. She said reimagining the town center is key to revitalizing the corridor. Eventually, she hopes, people can walk from forthcoming residential developments to a bustling community hub.
“If we can create a great, fun, engaging, vibrant space it all rolls into the Main Street feel,” Pickard said. “We can attract and retain quality restaurants and shops and small businesses. I’d like to see in the next 3-5 years more families getting out of their cars and getting an ice cream cone or a slice of pizza.”
She envisions an “urban park setting that’s a go-to place for kids, families that can create that excitement and foot traffic for businesses in the area.”
The County Council recently passed legislation to rezone two properties in the area to bring commerce and housing.
The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.
Anne Arundel owns a 31-acre lot at 7409 Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd., which is an approximately 10-minute walk from the plaza.
Pittman said his administration originally planned to do maintenance on county vehicles there, but pivoted to development after a meeting with Pickard. They have contracted a developer, The Michaels Organization, to build apartments, lofts, townhomes and commercial spaces on that property on 13 acres.
“That will become a place where people live, actually a beautiful place where people live at different price points,” said Pittman, noting its proximity to the Light Rail and the B&A Trail.
Half a mile from the county’s industrial lot — and about a 20-minute walk from the plaza — sits Cromwell Station, the Light Rail’s southern terminus, owned by the Maryland Department of Transportation.
The council recently passed legislation to rezone 16 acres of that state property to allow for up to 44 residences per acre, with the county and state teaming up on a transit-oriented development project that will feature apartments and stores.
The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.
“It’s really an amazing part of the county that hasn’t had a lot of attention in terms of investment,” Pittman said. “We’re bringing investment in the area.”
This article has been updated to correct when Glen Burnie Town Center was built.
Comments
Welcome to The Banner's subscriber-only commenting community. Please review our community guidelines.