Long delayed demolition beings | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

Crews began demolition of the site Monday to make way for a townhouse project and drug store on the 10-acre site.

"It sort of became a symbol of stagnation in the Brooklyn Park community," said County Councilman Daryl Jones, D-Severn. "Having that removed really opens up the community as a symbol of redevelopment and revitalization that's coming to the area."

By yesterday, an old bank building and rental center closest to the corner had been reduced to dirt and rubble. The rear structures near the Chesapeake Arts Center were still standing. The final demolition timetable was unclear.

The razing of the derelict retail center, which included a laundry, drugstore and a hair, tanning and nail salon, marks Brooklyn Park's first major community revitalization project under the county's general development plan.

"This is a significant event for the Brooklyn Park community and is emblematic of one the major planning goals for the county," said County

Executive John R. Leopold, who represented Brooklyn Park as a state delegates for 20 years.

He visited the site yesterday. Sporting a safety vest and helmet, he hopped aboard one of the bulldozers to pose for photos of the occasion. During his visit, he talked about the significance of the project.

"This is consistent with smart growth," he said, which involves discouraging sprawl and building housing where infrastructure is in place.

Plans to redevelop the shopping center, which has been empty for five years, were looming since 2002. Ellicott City-based Grayson Homes entered the picture in late 2005 and announced it intended to build approximately 130 multi-level townhouses starting at $300,000. The company finalized the purchase of 7 acres of the site in February, taking control of the site, which will be redeveloped as Patapsco Place.

"We won't depart much from that plan," said Gwyn Walcoff, a Grayson Homes spokesman. "Density, pricing and type of product are under significant review."

The company has no set schedule for site work beyond demolition or construction.

Patapsco Place is the first major project to move forward under legislation passed in 2002 and 2003 that aimed to stimulate private investment and revitalize older commercial and residential areas.

Del. Pam Beidle, D-Linthicum, worked to get the site revitalized the entire eight years she represented the neighborhood on the County Council.

"It's truly been awful for the last 11 years, when it really started to become vacant," she said. "I'm delighted to hear it's finally happening."

Woody Bowen, president of the Olde Brooklyn Park Improvement Association, said this revitalization comes 20 years too late.

"We've had fires, unsafe structures and yet it sat all these years," he said.

He's hoping the new neighborhood will bring in new families as well as some BRAC families, four of whom have already settled in Olde Brooklyn Park.