By Lori Aratani
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 28, 2008

A $1.3 million grant from Maryland's Program Open Space will allow Howard County to buy the final 29 acres needed for a park along the Patuxent River in the Fulton area.

"It's great," said Gary Arthur, director of recreation and parks for Howard County. "This is going to be a great asset for the Fulton community and the parks system."

With the acquisition of the 29 acres, known as the Iager property, the county Recreation and Parks Department will have 79 acres of space for outdoor recreation activities, Arthur said.

The wooded areas of the parcel will offer a forest buffer along the Patuxent and will enable officials to expand the park to the Patuxent Regional Greenway, an open space corridor that follows the river across seven jurisdictions from central to Southern Maryland.

Arthur said officials began acquiring land with an eye toward building the park about 10 years ago.

The grant, approved last week by the state Board of Public Works, was awarded through Program Open Space, which helps Maryland communities preserve park land, recreation and open space. The program, in place since 1969, has helped preserve more than 324,000 acres. The money is given to help counties pay for projects of different sizes and scopes.

Arthur said the fund is crucial because it's often difficult for counties, particularly small ones such as Howard, to secure funding to make such large purchases.

In addition to Howard, four other counties received open space grants.

Frederick County officials received $26,475 to replace old playground equipment with a new rock-climbing play structure. In Prince George's, park officials will use the $304,500 to buy property to further development of the Rollins Avenue Neighborhood Park in Capitol Heights. Kent County will be able to install a paved walking trial at Galena's Gateway Park and in Washington County, the funding will allow officials to improve handicap accessibility and install playground equipment at Byron Memorial Park in Williamsport.

According to the Department of Natural Resources, most Maryland residents live within 15 minutes of a recreation or open space area that was made possible by the Open Space fund. The money for the fund is a percentage of Maryland's real estate transfer tax.

The future park in Fulton along the county's southern edge is one of several park-related initiatives in the planning stages. Arthur said the department is working on finalizing the designs for a second community center in the North Laurel area of the county. The 60,000-square-foot center would sit on a 47-acre parcel of land adjacent to Laurel Woods Elementary School.

Work has also begun on what will be the county's first nature center. Arthur said the hope is that the 24,000-square-foot center would be the county's first Platinum Certified LEED building. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a green building rating system designed to encourage environmentally friendly building practices.

"It's going to be a great exploratory education center," Arthur said. He said the county hopes to have buildings open by fall 2010.