Discord at Wilmer's Isn't About the Music
Proposal to Redevelop Once-Popular Venue Irks Some Brandywine Residents

By Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 22, 2007

In its heyday, as many as 20,000 people crowded wooden bleachers on a hillside at Wilmer's Park in southern Prince George's County to hear the era's most popular black entertainers.

The 80-acre site in Brandywine, a few miles from the Charles County border, was one of a string of East Coast venues that made up what was often called the "Chitlin Circuit." In its dance hall and amphitheater, black musicians and audiences found refuge from Jim Crow discrimination in the 1950s and '60s.

"When they had major stars, there would be so many people that everyone couldn't get inside the hall," said Herman Windsor, 65, a farmer whose family has lived in the Croom area for more than 100 years. "You'd have people flowing out of the building."

Now a developer has a proposal to revive the musical tradition of Wilmer's Park. Bruce Chatman, a former IBM executive, wants to remove the dilapidated structures on the site and build a 5,000- to 6,000-seat theater, along with a restaurant and a cultural heritage museum.

But his plan also calls for a 500-unit condominium community for people 55 and older, a church, a shopping center, a nightclub, a hotel and recreational facilities. Some Brandywine residents contend that development of that size and density is out of character with the rural surroundings.

"I realize so much has been lost," said Chatman, who bought the site in 2003. "I have a strong affinity for trying to save that part of our cultural heritage."

Chatman's property is zoned for open space, which permits one house per five acres but virtually no commercial development. Rather than apply for a change in the zoning, Chatman has asked the County Council to establish a special exception for a "rural entertainment park" that promotes "an important cultural or historical theme."

A bill to create the exception has cleared a council committee. If the full council approves the measure, Chatman still faces a months-long process in which a zoning hearing examiner considers his application before the council decides whether to grant him an exception for the development he envisions.

The project's critics say the bill would open up the county's least-developed area to sprawl. They say the park's history is being exploited to wedge houses and stores into a rural site set aside for open space. And they say the legislation is being rushed through the council -- with too little opportunity for public review -- by a member who has received campaign contributions from the developer.

"It's not returning the heritage, and it's not celebrating its history," said Kelly Canavan, president of the Accokeek, Mattawoman, Piscataway Creeks Communities Council, a group formed to slow development. "It's using that as an excuse to completely redevelop in a way that's totally incongruent with what else is in that area."

Canavan and other critics insist that the development, off narrow Brandywine Road and about four miles west of Route 301, is not suited to a rural area with minimal public transit. They say it would tie up local roads and be out of character with nearby farms and forests.

But Chatman said the project depends on including profitable development along with the concert hall. He said he was not able to obtain financing for a music venue alone. Chatman estimates that the project will cost $120 million to $200 million.

Windsor, a member of the county Historic Preservation Commission, said that houses and retail might be needed to make the project viable and that he might support them to bring back the music of his childhood.

He's not alone. A nearby civic association has been lobbying for the project since Chatman bought the property from the estate of Arthur Wilmer in 2003.

Critics are unhappy that the bill does not mention the Wilmer's Park project by name, although no one disputes its purpose. They contend that the lack of an explicit link makes it harder for residents to understand what is happening. They also criticize the bill's rapid progress; the measure was heard in committee the day after it was presented to the council last week.

With so little notice, opponents were unable to take off work to attend the midday hearing June 13, said Randy Phoebus, president of the South County Alliance for Quality Communities, a coalition of citizen groups.

"They don't send word out to you," Phoebus said. "You have to follow all the convolutions. If you miss one little section of it, you're out in the dark and can't even figure out why. It is an absolute discouragement of public participation."

The bill could come up for a final vote in the next few weeks.

Council member Marilynn Bland (D-Clinton), the bill's sponsor, said that if the council approves the special exception to open-space zoning, Chatman's application still faces a rigorous approval process that includes public hearings and can take months to complete.

She said she has heard mostly positive comments from residents who support restoring the concert venue.

"It's very sentimental because it was the only place people had," Bland said. "There's history there. We're trying to revitalize what was there but update it."

Before last year's election, Chatman gave $1,000 to a political slate that included Bland. One of his partners contributed an additional $1,500. According to campaign finance records, Chatman also gave money to County Council Chairman Camille Exum (D-Seat Pleasant), council member Tony Knotts (D-Temple Hills) and County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D), among other politicians.

Bland said campaign contributions have played no role in her support for the legislation.

"There are many people who gave to Councilwoman Bland's campaign," said Bland's chief of staff, David Billings, who has handled her campaign finances. "I'm quite sure they gave because they deemed her worthy of returning to office."

Chatman expressed frustration with project opponents, who he said do not represent the majority of people who live near the site. He said the size of the county's rural tier -- with its strict regulations -- is an outdated hindrance to economic development that sends dollars south to growing Charles County.

"Whether you like it or not, development is coming. It can be development of your choosing, or it will be development chosen for you by other people," he said. "When it goes into Charles County, you don't have any choice."

As for traffic, he has a solution: Widen the narrow two-lane road fronting the property to four lanes. He dreams of a light-rail system running on nearby freight lines and encouraging commuters to get out of their cars. He envisions his planned community as a rural "hamlet" surrounded by rolling green acres.

Chatman said the first concert could be held in a rejuvenated Wilmer's Park in 2011. "I've always been a futurist," he said.