David Taylor

THE DEVELOPER aiming to convert the David Taylor Research Center into a civilian complex has answered opponents who argued that the project was too big. With the new agreement between Annapolis Partners and Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens to reduce the project by 100,000 square feet of office space, the question no longer should be whether the developer should proceed, but how. The county is well-positioned, geographically, to attract defense-oriented...

David Taylor suffered a classic weather-related heart attack Thursday while shoveling sidewalks at his Columbia apartment complex, but the response from Howard County emergency officials credited with saving his life was faster and more complex than any routine medical call. In full storm-response mode, the county had 30 people from a variety of agencies manning computers and phones at its emergency operations center. They both coordinated a quick medical rescue for Taylor at his apartment and sent another vehicle to get Dr. Julie Miller, the Johns Hopkins Hospital cardiologist on call for heart attacks, who was snowbound Thursday morning at her Clarksville home.

After 18 months of public silence, developers of the David Taylor Research Center outside Annapolis have submitted their plan for transforming the former Navy site into a waterfront office complex. The detailed plan for the $250 million development on the Severn River sticks closely to the plan county officials saw before transferring the 46-acre property to Annapolis Partners in October 2002. The proposed complex - one of the largest and highest-profile waterfront developments in recent county history - would have 515,000 square feet of office space in two- and three-story towers, a 100-room inn, a small retail area and almost 2,000 parking spaces.

William Jesse Kommers, a retired engineer who had worked at the David W. Taylor Ship Research & Development Center, died Saturday of a stroke at his Venice, Fla., home where he had lived since 1989. He was 89. Mr. Kommers was a former Severna Park resident and ham radio operator who served as president of the Anne Arundel Radio Club. He worked at the naval research center in Annapolis from 1950 until he retired in 1974. Born and raised in Madison, Wis., Mr. Kommers earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin in 1939.

Developers who plan to turn the concrete compound of the former David Taylor Research Center into a cluster of elegant executive office buildings presented a first glimpse of what the future holds for the Navy site near Annapolis at a meeting with an advisory committee last night. Annapolis Partners, the development group planning to spend about $250 million to redevelop the former military base, offered such details as seven new buildings to be constructed, landscaping that will include about 600 trees, and - of critical interest to the community - 1,968 parking spaces.

Consultants dragged out glossy renditions of the Navy's David Taylor Research Center decked out as the next Fells Point, the next Club Med on the Severn, the next built-from-scratch high-tech industrial park.But the 45-acre waterfront property probably will look much as it does now for years to come.After two years of study and presentations from consultants, an eight-member county advisory board decided yesterday that the county can't afford big dreams. It voted unanimously to recommend that the county buy the site from the Department of Defense and rent out most of the buildings as research and development office space.

Concerns about the financial status of developers set to recast the David Taylor Research Center near Annapolis as a swanky business park forced Anne Arundel County Council members last night to delay a vote on approval of the redevelopment agreement. In a 6-1 vote, the council approved a motion by council member John J. Klocko III to postpone the vote for at least two weeks so that members could seek more information on the financial strength of Annapolis Partners, a team that includes Maurice B. Tose, an Annapolis entrepreneur, and Mesirow Stein Real Estate of Chicago.

THERE'S A connection between the military campaign in Afghanistan and the David Taylor Research Center in Annapolis. The former naval center houses the Joint Spectrum Center, a Defense Department operation that helps the military manage the electromagnetic spectrum. Joint Spectrum's work enables the U.S. military to "own the night" in warfare, as fighting forces engage unseen enemies and guide smart weapons. David Taylor is important for that alone. But it could become an even more significant part of the nation's defense -- and the region's economy -- when the 46.5-acre site is finally privatized and developed into an industrial park.

After 18 months of public silence, developers of the David Taylor Research Center outside Annapolis have submitted their plan for transforming the former Navy site into a waterfront office complex. The detailed plan for the $250 million development on the Severn River sticks closely to the plan county officials saw before transferring the 46-acre property to Annapolis Partners in October 2002. The proposed complex - one of the largest and highest-profile waterfront developments in recent county history - would have 515,000 square feet of office space in two- and three-story towers, a 100-room inn, a small retail area and almost 2,000 parking spaces.

The race of the black developers who want to turn the former David Taylor Research Center into a high-tech office park has come into focus again. RESPECT, a coalition of black groups, called on County Councilwoman Barbara D. Samorajczyk yesterday to ease her opposition to two zoning-related bills so that the old naval research center can be redeveloped. "The David Taylor project is the only project I am aware of where there has been anything close to significant African-American involvement," said RESPECT chairman Clemon H. Wesley.

Rob Hardy's The Gospel is another solid entry in the burgeoning African-American faith-based genre that favors inclusiveness over preachiness and presents multidimensional characters. Featuring a number of noted gospel singers, the film is rousing, affirmative entertainment. Upon the death of his mother in 1992, David Taylor (Boris Kodjoe) turns his back on his workaholic Atlanta preacher father (Clifton Powell). Handsome and sexy, David becomes an R&B star, and his "Let Me Undress You" is riding the top of the charts when he learns his father is terminally ill. David postpones a tour and heads home - into a hornet's nest.

Anne Arundel County planning officials have approved development plans for a 46-acre piece of former Navy land outside Annapolis, clearing the way for final construction permits on one of the largest and highest-profile waterfront projects in recent county history. The plan for a $250 million development on the Severn River has changed little from the one county officials saw before giving the former David Taylor Research Center to their chosen development team, Annapolis Partners, in October 2002.

Anne Arundel County planning officials have approved development plans for a 46-acre piece of former Navy land outside Annapolis, clearing the way for final construction permits on one of the largest and highest-profile waterfront projects in recent county history. The plan for a $250 million development on the Severn River has changed little from the one county officials saw before giving the former David Taylor Research Center to their chosen development team, Annapolis Partners, in October 2002.

After 18 months of public silence, developers of the David Taylor Research Center outside Annapolis have submitted their plan for transforming the former Navy site into a waterfront office complex. The detailed plan for the $250 million development on the Severn River sticks closely to the plan county officials saw before transferring the 46-acre property to Annapolis Partners in October 2002. The proposed complex - one of the largest and highest-profile waterfront developments in recent county history - would have 515,000 square feet of office space in two- and three-story towers, a 100-room inn, a small retail area and almost 2,000 parking spaces.

After 18 months of public silence, developers of the David Taylor Research Center outside Annapolis have submitted their plan for transforming the former Navy site into a waterfront office complex. The detailed plan for the $250 million development on the Severn River sticks closely to the plan county officials saw before transferring the 46-acre property to Annapolis Partners in October 2002. The proposed complex - one of the largest and highest-profile waterfront developments in recent county history - would have 515,000 square feet of office space in two- and three-story towers, a 100-room inn, a small retail area and almost 2,000 parking spaces.

James Winfield Sindall, a mechanical engineering technician for David Taylor Research Center, died Wednesday of complications from diabetes at Kris-Leigh Assisted Living Home. The longtime Annapolis resident was 80. Born in Annapolis, Mr. Sindall graduated from Annapolis High School in 1942, then served in the Navy for the next four years. In 1946, he began working as a mechanical engineer for David Taylor Research Center, a Navy research and design laboratory in Annapolis. In 1954, Mr. Sindall married Anne Beese of Baltimore, who died in 1993.

A BAD LESSON in regional economic cooperation comes from Annapolis. That city's mayor wants to thwart an important business venture at a time when Baltimore-area jurisdictions are working together to expand the region's industrial base. In a strange move, Mayor Dean L. Johnson is trying to interfere with plans to develop the David Taylor Research Center, to be located on 46.5 acres of land across the Severn River from his scenic town. Now that the Anne Arundel County Council has approved legislation to allow the David Taylor project to go forward, the Navy is preparing to give Anne Arundel County the closed military site.

THE DAVID TAYLOR Research Center gives Anne Arundel County an excellent opportunity to bolster its technology presence, build its tax base, restore a mostly vacant site and develop badly needed premium office space in Annapolis. Two Naval Academy graduates are negotiating with the county to develop the 46-acre waterfront site, which is across the Severn River from their alma mater. One of them, Maurice B. Tose, runs an Annapolis telecommunications firm. The other, Ron K. McDonald, is a top executive of a Chicago firm that has won an award for rebuilding a military base that, like the Annapolis site, was forced to close.

The new owners of the former David Taylor Research Center have filed an appeal with the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation in an effort to reduce a $174,000 tax bill. The appeal, which was submitted by Annapolis Partners of Alexandria, Va., last month, has reignited debate about the viability of the plan to redevelop the former Navy base as a riverside office park. But county officials - some of whom have worked closely with the group, which includes Annapolis telecommunications entrepreneur Maurice B. Tose - said that they are not concerned about the assessment appeal or the status of the high-profile project.