Scene This Week In…

Last September, when the flash food ripped through Ellicott City, well above the high water mark, a 19^th century stone wall collapsed onto six cars in Parking Lot C. Those cars may have prevented a bigger catastrophe by halting further erosion and undermining the foundation of St.Pauls Dohony Hall.

Contrary to loco rumor, the cars are no longer buried under the pile of rock. According to this story by Brandi Jefferson in Ellicott City Patch, the six cars were removed about a week later when more stone was added.

This is the way it looks five months later. I understand that the complete restoration of the wall won’t be started until the spring and will likely take awhile. Replacing old stone walls in the historic district can be a little involved.

Better get used to seeing signs like this popping up in Town Center. There are going to be around for the next thirty years or so. Now that the long anticipated redevelopment of Columbia Town has begun in earnest that means more meetings.

We’ve actually enjoyed a brief Town Center meeting hiatus since the Town Center legistlation was passed. It was two years ago this week. That is about to change. In no time at all the familiar faces and arguments will return to the public arena to be endlessly debated at every single step of the process. Count on it.

And if the antics displayed at the recent Pre Submission meeting by GGP are any indication of what we are in for, it should at least be fun to watch.