Annapolis (November 15, 2003) - Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens announced today "The Wiley H. Bates Heritage Park" as the official name for the school redevelopment complex planned for construction beginning in Summer 2004. The name was selected to honor Wiley H. Bates, one of the school's early founders and a self-taught entrepreneur whose $500 contribution toward the purchase of land in the early 1930s made possible the construction of the African American school that served Anne Arundel County for nearly 30 years. "This is a special endeavor that not only preserves a site and a building that played a very important role in our County's history, but also transforms those spaces within the building for valuable use by citizens for years to come," said Ms. Owens. Speaking as part of a community open house held today at the site of the former Wiley H. Bates High School, Ms. Owens went on to explain the selection of the name. "Wiley H. Bates Heritage Park is a name that celebrates the spirit, intelligence and philanthropy of one of the School's most important founders. It honors the past and protects the culture and ideas that first came to life in this building. It is a name that inspires thoughts of community and acknowledges that this is a center where people of all ages and backgrounds will come together to live, to work, to play and to celebrate." Also announced at the community event was a newly formed Board of Trustees appointed to oversee design and use of the exhibit space at the new complex. Headed by Judge Essom V. Ricks, Jr., the new nonprofit board is charged with "assuring and managing future operations for the memorial to the history of the school and the man for whom the building is named." "The Wiley H. Bates Heritage Park project is very exciting and is deserving of attention - it represents positive change for the community," said Judge Ricks, who is a long-standing member of the Bates Advisory Committee, one of the groups responsible for the rejuvenation of the abandoned school building originally constructed in the 1930s, but closed in 1981 because of deteriorating conditions. Plans for the new complex call for the development of 71 affordable rental housing units for elderly citizens, a full-service, County-managed Senior Center, a 23,000 square-foot Boys and Girls Club, and a "memorial courtyard and exhibit space" designed to showcase stories about Mr. Bates and the
early history of the Bates School. Once completed, it will provide new housing and activities for
more than 10,000 children and adults per year from the greater Annapolis area. The project also includes landscaped grounds, parking, walkways and community ball fields.
Funding for the redevelopment project is being provided from a variety of public and private sources, including $4 million in Anne Arundel County general funds; $3 million in State of Maryland general bond funds, $1.7 in County Community Development Block Grant funds and $3 million from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County. The project is a joint public-private venture whose redevelopment is being facilitated by the County's nonprofit housing and community development agency, Arundel Community Development Services, Inc. on behalf of Anne Arundel County. |
