Now we know. Well, we don't know much about the plans that General Growth Properties has for most of the land it owns downtown but we know a great deal about GGP's plans for Symphony Woods, the land that we own downtown. By "we" I mean the people of Columbia because most of Symphony Woods is Columbia Association designated open space, which belongs to all of us.

I was amazed when GGP released the detailed plans it had created for Symphony Woods at its April 28th unveiling. On April 3rd, at a joint meeting of GGP and the Columbia Association Board of Directors to discuss GGP's plans for downtown development, GGP told the CA Board that "the cake is not baked yet" and its plans for downtown were not shared with the Board. To date, the CA Board has had no substantive discussions with GGP about Symphony Woods or any other CA property. The CA Board and not GGP has the responsibility and obligation, on behalf of the assessment payers, to make plans for CA owned property.

I was even more amazed that the GGP plans call for moving a privately owned business (Toby's Dinner Theater) and a county building (the public library) on to CA's open space. I wonder, what plans GGP has for the land on which those buildings are now located? GGP's plans also call for the CA headquarters, a civic building and a number of buildings devoted to various cultural endeavors to be located in Symphony Woods as well.

While I love all of the suggestions for the cultural activities and elements that GGP is suggesting for the downtown area, I must ask: Why choose to locate these buildings on CA open space instead of GGP owned property? Why gobble up precious green space downtown, our Central Park if you will, by slicing and dicing it with roads and buildings? Once this precious green space is gone, it is gone forever. Why not gobble up a part of a parking lot instead (since GGP has said there is more than enough parking in this area)? And, incidentally, who is going to pay for all of this?

There is another way to create a compatible cultural entrance way to the Merriweather Post Pavilion and Symphony Woods without seriously eroding the enormous value of open green space. The cultural buildings could be located just across Little Patuxent Parkway where GGP currently plans to locate a hotel. The hotel could be located elsewhere in the downtown area, as could the CA headquarters and a civic building, if one is needed.

There are also many ways to enhance the great natural environment of Symphony Woods so that everyone in Columbia could more fully enjoy it. For years, Bob Moon has been touting the idea of creating a Children's Garden in Columbia similar to the one located in Cleveland, Ohio. Symphony Woods would be a great location for the Children's Garden since it is centrally located and accessible. This idea could even be expanded to include some of the other wonderful theme gardens that exist in Cleveland. It would create, quite literally, a breath of fresh air in the middle of the city.

Finally, the CA Board should also be considering other amenities for Symphony Woods such as bike paths, picnic areas, a skate board park, a band stand, a fish pond or an ice rink (whoops, that one may have already been taken). There is no point of having an elected CA Board of Directors if that Board is going to sit back and wait for GGP and the county government to decide what CA should do with its own property.

Barbara Russell represented Oakland Mills on the Columbia Association's board of directors from 2000 until last month, when she declined to run for re-election.

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