Looking Back, Looking Forward a New Look at the Heritage Resources of the Maryland Port Towns
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Looking Back, Looking Forward A New Look at the Heritage Resources of the Maryland Port Towns HISP650 STUDIO PROJECT University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation Graduate Program in Historic Preservation Fall 2008 Program Director Authors Donald W. Linebaugh, Ph.D. Matt Bowling Jennifer Carpenter Faculty Alice Dorman Professor Mary Konsoulis Zasha Guzmán-Torres Rei Harada Justin Kockritz Kelly Merrifield Alisyn Stuebner Jason Vaughan 1 LOOKINGLOOKING BACK,FORWARD, LOOKING LOOKING FORWARD BACK Acknowledgements The studio team would like to thank Sadara Barrow and Adrian Tirtanadi of the Port Towns Community Development Corporation for their support and guidance during this project. Their insights and suggestions greatly added to the studio team’s understanding and respect for the four vibrant municipalities of the Maryland Port Towns. The authors would also like to express their grateful appreciation for the time and energy generously given by the following individuals. Without them, this report could not have been prepared. Cheryl Branagan Suzanne Copping Karen Jennings Crooms Vivian Ducat Sarah Fairbrother John Maudlin-Jeronimo John Giannetti Patricia Gladding Tamara Jovovic Ruthie Mundell Brendan Quinn Deana Rhodeside Jim Schulman John Sower Andrew Wolvin Finally, we extend a special thank you to Professor Mary Konsoulis for her support and suggestions. We also thank Historic Preservation Program Director and Professor ON THE COVER Donald Linebaugh and the University of Maryland for their guidance and support. A young girl with a kite at the ballfields in Colmar Manor (September 2008). IMAGE SOURCE: Photo by author (Jason Vaughan) 2 A NEW LOOK AT THE HERITAGE RESOURCES OF THE MARYLAND PORT TOWNS THE Port TOWNS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Corporation The Port Towns Community Development Corporation leads and engages in strategic partnerships and collaborative economic development for the four individual municipalities that make up the Port Towns: Bladensburg, Colmar Manor, Cottage City, and Edmonston. UNIVERSITY OF Maryland SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, PLANNING, AND PRESERVation The school provides a process through which students and the professional community can express the creativity, acquire the technical capacity, accept the social responsibility, and recognize a sense of history to make the decisions that shape the built environment. Through research, practice, outreach, and teaching, students learn to understand the built environment at all scales: from the history, design, function, and impact of a single building or public space to the operation, physical form, and socioeconomic system of a metropolitan region. Faculty and students alike address issues of the art of designing buildings, neighborhoods, and urban districts, as well as the science of understanding the relationship of people to their built environment, both past and present; the socioeconomic conditions in the contemporary city; and the factors that shape urban form. UNIVERSITY OF Maryland HISTORIC PRESERVation PROGRAM The program is a collaboration of faculty with specializations in a variety of interrelated disciplines, with a goal of educating professionals for work in a wide range of preservation organizations. Research on historic preservation issues is also a focus of the program, pursued through faculty and student projects, in partnership with preservation organizations and University partners. The Historic Preservation Program offers a Master of Historic Preservation (MHP) degree as well as a graduate Certificate. The MHP is designed as a full-time, two-year curriculum leading to a professional degree. The 45-credit MHP curriculum stresses policy and planning for preservation, and includes core courses, an internship, an interdisciplinary studio course, and a large selection of electives to stimulate each student’s particular interests. 2008 HISTORIC PRESERVation STUDIO (HISP 650) The Historic Preservation Studio class brings together graduate students from the preservation program to work collaboratively on a project in the local community, from inception and problem formulation through completion. Guided carefully by faculty, students conduct research, interact with communities, perform analyses, and propose solutions for an issue or problem of direct relevance to a local community and client group. 3 LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD Table of Contents Table of Contents .................................................................................................. 4 The Battle of Bladensburg Cluster .................................................................... 27 Introduction ............................................................................................ 27 Table of Illustrations ............................................................................................ 6 A Brief History of the Battle of Bladensburg ...................................... 28 Infrastructure .......................................................................................... 30 Commonly Used Abbreviations ........................................................................ 7 Interpretation .......................................................................................... 31 Marketing ................................................................................................ 38 Executive Summary ............................................................................................. 8 Partnerships............................................................................................. 39 Funding.................................................................................................... 40 Resumen Ejectivo ................................................................................................. 10 . The Cultural Market Cluster............................................................................... 42 Mission, Goals, and Methodology .................................................................... 12 Cultural Market: The Community Market............................................................ 43 The Studio Mission ................................................................................ 12 Introduction............................................................................................. 43 Reaching Our Goals Through Heritage Tourism .............................. 12 Infrastructure........................................................................................... 44 Heritage Tourism: By the Numbers ..................................................... 13 Interpretation........................................................................................... 46 Methodology .......................................................................................... 13 Marketing................................................................................................. 47 Partnerships............................................................................................. 48 The Port Towns: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow ........................................ 15 Funding .................................................................................................... 49 Looking Back: Bladensburg .................................................................. 15 Looking Back: Edmonston ................................................................... 15 Cultural Market: The Community Garden............................................................ 51 Looking Back: Cottage City .................................................................. 16 Introduction............................................................................................. 51 Looking Back: Colmar Manor .............................................................. 16 Infrastructure........................................................................................... 52 Historic Resources in the Port Towns ................................................. 16 Interpretation........................................................................................... 54 The Port Towns Today: Demographic Overview ............................... 18 Marketing................................................................................................. 55 The Port Towns Today: Civic Organizations ...................................... 19 Partnerships............................................................................................. 56 The Port Towns Today: Infrastructure ................................ ............... 20 Funding .................................................................................................... 57 The Port Towns Today: Barriers to Heritage Tourism ...................... 21 The Port Towns Today: Zoning and Land Use ................................... 22 Cultural Market: Heritage Programs..................................................................... 58 Looking Forward: Proposed Sectional Map Amendments............... 23 Introduction............................................................................................. 58 Infrastructure........................................................................................... 59 A New Look at the Heritage Resources of the Port Towns ........................... 25 Interpretation........................................................................................... 60 A Cluster Approach ..............................................................................