The last remaining Flat Tops building has been converted into the United States Colored Troops Memorial Interpretative Center.
Leonardtown, MD — Could St. Mary’s County be getting something like Annmarie Garden in Solomon’s? Possibly! There has been some talk of converting the former Lexington Manor development known as the Flat Tops into an art park.
At their Aug. 30 meeting, the Commissioners of St. Mary’s County recognized that previous plans to develop the now demolished neighborhood into a commercial and office center were unrealistic. A park is the alternate plan.
The St. Mary’s County Planning Commission, in developing the Lexington Park Master Plan, took cognizance of the Navy’s desire not to have buildings where a lot of people congregated within the AICUZ (Air Installation Computable Ukase Zone). The AICUZ is an area of high noise and accident potential.
According to a press release from the county about 10 years ago, “The Flat Tops was once a bustling neighborhood in the 1940’s as flocks of test pilots, engineers and their families relocated to St. Mary’s County to work at the brand new Naval Air Station Patuxent River.
“Over the decades, the neighborhood declined and the property was eventually purchased by St. Mary’s County Government, with assistance from state and federal funds, to ease the blight and to prevent encroachment upon the expanding Naval Air Station. Remaining residents received assistance and were all relocated.”
Originally two of the housing units were saved, but one had a roof collapse and had to be demolished. The sole remaining building has been turned into the United States Colored Troops (USCT) Memorial Interpretive Center adjacent to Lancaster Park.
When the county received a $3 million grant from what is now the Maryland Department of Commerce, two potential uses were identified for the 33.8-acre north tract of the Flat Tops: open space or a public/private partnership for commercial development. Right after the purchase by the county there was an attempt to interest developers, with a tepid response. Then the recession hit and interest completely dried. And then the Navy’s desires were interposed on the situation.
St. Mary’s County Director of Economic Development Chris Kaselenis and the Lexington Manor Project Manager Robin Finnacom proposed to the commissioners at the Aug. 30 meeting that they send a letter to the state recognizing that the open space option was the way to go. The commissioners unanimously agreed.
During the discussion Finnacom said that some members of the Community Development Corporation in Lexington Park had expressed an interest in an art park on the Lexington Manor property. Based on a question from Commissioner Mike Hewitt [R – 2nd District] she agreed it could be something like Annmarie Garden.
Hewitt also noted the location of the Three Notch Theater at the entrance to the old housing development. He said large numbers of people regularly congregate there for plays, in seeming contradiction to the Navy’s desire not to have people congregate in the area, Next to the theater, which was the old Lexington Park Library, is the Three Oak Center, which provides housing and services to the homeless.
Hewitt also asked about the possibility of an amphitheater, but Finnacom said that probably wouldn’t fit the Navy’s idea for the area.
Regarding the existing buildings, Finnacom said the county would have to come up “with a strategy for increased compliance over time.”
A shopping center sits across the street from the theater that was the original downtown of Lexington Park. That center is reportedly targeted for redevelopment. The Lexington Park Post Office is across the street from that commercial area.
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com