CROWNSVILLE, Md. — Anne Arundel County has released a draft master plan for the future of "Crownsville Hospital Memorial Park" - home to a historically segregated mental hospital known for its deplorable conditions.
It was originally the "Crownsville Hospital for the Negro Insane," and faced chronic low staffing, overcrowding, riots in the 1950s, problematic experimental treatments and other concerns, until its closure in 2004.
Perhaps most sadly, 1,700 people who died at the hospital were buried in anonymous graves marked only with numbers.
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The plan is to turn the 500-acre site into community spaces that include a museum, space for racial healing, Bowie State University facilities, rec fields, treatment services, maker space, artist studios, transitional/affordable housing, community garden educational center, pedestrian/bike paths, and a "Path of Reverence" - leading visitors from the campus core to the patient cemetery that will soon be a memorial to actually recognize the patients.
The trail network would feature sculptures, and there would be an Event Lawn, a new facility for the Anne Arundel County Food Bank, more outdoor space for Hope House (which has provided services for drug abuse and mental health), and a connection to the adjacent Bacon Ridge Natural Area, which has more than 1,400 acres.
U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, and Rep. John Sarbanes announced yesterday $4.6 million in federal funds toward the redevelopment.
The funding will be used to demolish dilapidated structures and develop a trail system through the Chesapeake Heritage Area.
The plan was developed with extensive public feedback, but the county will continue to seek feedback through Nov. 24.
Comments can be sent to comments@aacounty.org .
County Executive Steuart Pittman said in a statement:
It takes the visions expressed by hundreds of residents and integrates them into the campus in a way that will deliver the experience of remembrance, of peace, and of healing that this county and this country are craving.
A final plan is expected to be published late this year or early 2025.
The draft is also available at https://www.aacounty.org/CrownsvillePark
