Park Made Possible by the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Annapolis, MD (Dec. 17, 2003) - Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens' aggressive land preservation initiatives received a significant boost today as the State Board of Public Works approved $1,521,491 million in Program Open Space Funding. The Program Open Space funding will be put toward a public park that was made possible by the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation of Owings Mills, MD. The Foundation donated three parcels of land located on Fairview Beach Road in Pasadena, MD, near Fort Smallwood Park, totaling approximately 232 acres.
The donation is contingent on the property becoming a public park, named "The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Park," and will be subject to the County purchasing the interests of the Weinberg Foundation's co-owners in two of the three properties. Based on the appraisals of the properties, the value of the donation by the Weinberg Foundation is in excess of $2,750,000. Today's Program Open Space funding, enables the County to purchase and settle on the remaining interests in the two properties. Settlement is anticipated to take place prior to December 31, 2003.
"This is truly a great day for Anne Arundel County," Ms. Owens said. "One of the most significant tracts of land in Anne Arundel County will now be forever protected from development. At a time of such severe fiscal restraints on the County, this could have never been possible without the significant gift from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. As a life-long resident of Anne Arundel County, I thank the Foundation, as well as the Board of Public Works for making this possible. We have been working on this for two years, and I'd like to thank Councilman Dillon and the County Council for their efforts and for accepting the donation of property from the Foundation." The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Park is an extremely valuable addition to the Anne Arundel County park system. The property is located in an fast-growing area of the County where most waterfront property has already been subdivided. With the exception of Downs Memorial Park, there are no other comparably sized undeveloped waterfront parcels in the area. The park will offer citizens opportunities for water access and a site for a regional park with trails, picnic areas and other features. The environment of the park also will maintain habitat areas for a wide variety of plant and animal species. The properties, located near the mouth of Rock Creek, have over 2000 feet of waterfront on Wall Cove, 3000 feet of waterfront on Rock Creek and an additional 2000 feet of waterfront on White Pond, a tidal inlet off Rock Creek. The property is dominated by mature hardwood forest and contains tidal wetlands and other habitat areas. |
