Public hearing to be held in repurposing of Maryland's notorius Crownsville Memorial Hospital

BALTIMORE -- The future of the former Crownsville Hospital enters a new phase this week as plans begin for a public park. 

On July 11, a public meeting will be held to discuss the master plan for the site.

The master planning process has been underway since Anne Arundel County acquired the 500-acre complex from the state in 2022. This is when plans for the future Crownsville Hospital Memorial Park came to life. 

The former Crownsville Hospital opened in 1911 as a Black psychiatric hospital until it was desegregated in 1963. Patients there were subjected to neglect, poor living conditions and even violence. It closed in 2004. 

In May 2024, Bowie State University's President Dr. Amnita Breaux and Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman signed a memorandum of understanding for programming Crownsville Hospital Memorial Park. 

Pittman believes the partnership with Bowie State will bring educational programming, research, internships, health and wellness initiatives to the new Crownsville Memorial Park.

"Members of the BSU campus community had an opportunity to walk these grounds and to explore how we might best honor the lives of those who lived and who are buried here," Breaux said. 

"I see both a public park with wonderful trails and places for families to picnic and then a place for people to learn about the history of what took place here," Pittman told WJZ in May. 

The meeting will happen on Thursday, July 11 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Rolling Knolls Elementary School 

This will be a workshop-style public meeting with a chance for the community to give input. 

Officials will be available to answer questions. 

Project information and a link to RSVP can be found here.