Council votes to seek 'heritage' designation State approval could mean tax credits, grants to boost tourism

Anne Arundel County may soon be history.

The County Council voted last night to apply to the state for a special "heritage area" designation that could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants and tax credits to encourage tourism.

The money could be used to build a regional history museum in Annapolis, create an archaeology learning center in London Town, or encourage owners of historic shops to restore their buildings, said Donna Ware, a historic site planner for the county.

"If we want to make tourism more successful in the county, this is something we must do," Ware said before the council voted 7-0 in favor of the proposal. "I think it's an incredible opportunity."

A 17-member state heritage authority is expected to decide by September whether Arundel deserves the tourism grants or whether Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Harford County or seven other jurisdictions that have applied deserve them more.

The Maryland Heritage Preservation and Tourist Areas Authority, whose members are appointed by the governor, will choose only two jurisdictions for the grants, said Pat Barland, program administrator in the county's Office of Human Services.

Barland said the competition is fierce for the more than $1 million in state funding to be split three ways next year.

In addition to the two areas to be chosen this fall, Cumberland in Western Maryland was chosen last year because it has a historic site along the C&O Canal, Barland said.

Annapolis and Anne Arundel County are visited by about 916,000 tourists a year. That number could grow by 13,740 through the state program, bringing in as much as $8 million more in tourism business each year, Barland said.

But the state grants would require the county and city to submit a plan showing how they would preserve their historic areas. The city voted to apply for the program earlier this year.

"The program encourages tourism and protects historic resources at the same time," said Aliki Kulukundis, director of preservation services for the Historic Annapolis Foundation, a non-profit group dedicated to saving historic places.

If approved by the state, the so-called Annapolis and London Town Heritage Area would extend from Sandy Point State Park along the Chesapeake Bay, through Annapolis and south to Anne Arundel County's border with Calvert County.

The area would include the Frederick Douglass Summer House near Highland Beach, the Captain Salem Avery House on the Shady Side Peninsula and the Stephen Steward Archaeological Site in southern Anne Arundel County.

Pub Date: 8/05/97