Fort Howard

In Alison Knezevich's recent article on Fort Howard ("Fort Howard multi-use project marches on," March 18), there are many red flags that should alarm not only the citizens of the area but other communities who face the same peril. In numerous editorials, The Sun has expressed concern over the cozy relationship between developers and politicians, and this proposed development is no different except its supporters are waving the veterans flag around it to gather public support. Some of the troubling issues include the failed promises of the developers to inform the community of the required studies and meetings and the fact the residents have filed a Notice of Intent with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that must be addressed, despite Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger's rhetoric to the contrary, before a shovel goes in the ground.

John Stewart Croucher, a retired hospital assistant engineer and World War II naval veteran, died of a stroke Tuesday at Gilchrist Hospice Care. The Bel Air resident was 90. Born in Baltimore and raised on Eastern Avenue in Highlandtown, he was a graduate of the old Thomas A. Edison Vocational School on Howard Street. Many years later, he completed adult night school at City College. He also studied physics at what was then Essex Community College. Family members said Mr. Croucher was an accomplished machinist and worked at the Flynn & Emrich foundry on Holliday Street in downtown Baltimore in the early 1940s.

I am directly opposed to Fort Howard Development LLC's plans to build a 1,473-unit complex on the tip of the peninsula at Fort Howard. The impact of this project on local residents would be extreme. The highway leading into Fort Howard isn't adequate for its current usage, and this proposal would add at least five times more traffic, sewage and water disposal to this area. The resulting pollution and impact to our local waterways and on our local environment would be profound. Developers want to expand this area with a new medical clinic, restaurants, offices and living complexes to meet the needs of 1,500 families.

Elaine Karp-Gelernter, a retired Veterans Affairs psychologist who was also a textile artist, died of complications from pneumonia March 20 at Sinai Hospital. The Mount Washington resident was 78. She was the daughter of Polish immigrants who ran a custom-tailored bridal shop in New York City. She grew up in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn and earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Brooklyn College. In 1952, she married Steve Karp, a psychologist. She and her family moved to Mount Washington in 1964.

Baltimore County firefighters battled a one-alarm fire Monday morning in a vacant building at the shuttered Fort Howard Hospital in Edgemere. The fire did extensive damage to the first floor lobby of the six-story brick building at the former military hospital along the Patapsco River. No other buildings at the site on North Point Road were damaged and no firefighters were injured. mary.gail.hare@baltsun.com

The Department of Veterans Affairs is surveying damage at the Fort Howard VA Outpatient Clinic today in hopes of getting the facility open again in 90 days after it was extensively damaged by flooding from Tropical Storm Isabel. Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony J. Principi agreed to send an assessment team to the Baltimore County site to expedite repairs at the urging of U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who said the clinic should be reopened as soon as possible. "I was shocked when I heard that the Fort Howard VA clinic could be closed for six months because of flood damage caused by Isabel," Mikulski, a Democrat, said yesterday.

Two masked men -- one with a silver-plated revolver -- robbed the Fantasy of Lights holiday light show at Fort Howard Park in Edgemere on Saturday and escaped with $6,999, Baltimore County police said yesterday.Most of the money came from the show's gate receipts for Saturday night, and the rest was personal cash from two workers, police said.Police said that shortly before 11 p.m., two men wearing masks and dressed in black entered the office, handcuffed the manager and a female part-time employee, bound their feet with duct tapeand took money from the safe and from the two workers.

Opening night of Baltimore County's Fantasy of Lights display at Fort Howard Park drew scant turnout, but the volunteers operating the show for the first time hope Thanksgiving's poor attendance isn't the precursor for the 40-night run."I'm not worried yet," said Greg Kirkpatrick, 51, past president of the Edgemere-Sparrows Point Recreation Council and administrator of the light show."I can't see how it could be a bust. The county set it up for nothing, the volunteers don't cost us, and the only cost is the heat in the [refreshment and entertainment]

In a project that could serve as a national model, the 95-acre campus of the Fort Howard Veterans Affairs Medical Center in eastern Baltimore County will be redeveloped into a $100 million cutting-edge care facility for veterans, featuring apartments, waterfront rental homes, a large marina and retail shops. The Department of Veterans Affairs has signed a memorandum of understanding with Federal Development LLC of Washington, which will become the first private vendor in the nation to lease a department-owned tract of this size, officials said.

When the Department of Veterans Affairs recently asked its facilities around the nation about decades-old research with radioactive materials, hospital officials at Fort Howard confidently checked off the "no" box in its response to the survey and sent it back to Washington.Administrators at the isolated veterans hospital on the eastern edge of Baltimore County had checked, they said, and could find no evidence that its doctors used radioactive material in treating patients 40 years ago.But they were wrong.

Kudos to reporter Alison Knezevich's excellent article on Ft. Howard's multi-use development project ("Fort Howard multi-use project marches on," March 18). Here are some other aspects of the future development that were left out: First, it must be made affordable to veterans on either Social Security or Veterans Administration monthly disability pension checks. So far, the quoted housing price ranges have not reflected that financial reality. Second, it will most likely affect veterans from the Korean War onward, since by the time it is built most of the World War II veterans will no longer be with us. Third, the partnering with non-veteran seniors is necessary to guarantee that it will be built at all, as the government will not have the funds for only vets to live there for another decade at least.

In Alison Knezevich's recent article on Fort Howard ("Fort Howard multi-use project marches on," March 18), there are many red flags that should alarm not only the citizens of the area but other communities who face the same peril. In numerous editorials, The Sun has expressed concern over the cozy relationship between developers and politicians, and this proposed development is no different except its supporters are waving the veterans flag around it to gather public support. Some of the troubling issues include the failed promises of the developers to inform the community of the required studies and meetings and the fact the residents have filed a Notice of Intent with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that must be addressed, despite Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger's rhetoric to the contrary, before a shovel goes in the ground.

A decade after the Department of Veterans Affairs closed its hospital at Fort Howard, most of the buildings at the sprawling Baltimore County waterfront property are boarded up. A big rusty pole in front of the old facility has no flag. But there are plans to turn the site into a huge, mixed-use development for veterans and senior citizens. Nearby residents oppose the developer's proposal, but the Department of Veterans Affairs is moving forward with the project, which has the backing of elected officials.

A number of misconceptions have been circulated regarding the community being created at the Fort Howard Veterans Affairs campus in eastern Baltimore County. I would like to set the record straight. I am honored that the Department of Veterans Affairs chose my team's concept to revitalize Fort Howard in a way that will respectfully house and treat veterans. The vision for the community is for it to become a national model for serving the needs of America's growing veteran population, allowing those who served our country to age gracefully in place while enjoying high-quality services and amenities.

Fort Howard should be a place for military veterans to heal — not the site of new residential and retail development, residents of nearby communities said Tuesday. About 200 people turned out for a community meeting at the North Point-Edgemere Volunteer Fire Hall, and most opposed Fort Howard Development LLC's plans to build a 1,473-unit development on the waterfront site. Many said they wanted the site to be used for a long-term medical facility and housing for veterans only.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has released a report on the potential environmental impact of a proposed 1,473-unit residential development on the Baltimore County waterfront that can be summed up in two words: no problem. Opponents of the Fort Howard project disagree, and they mean to make waves. The 171-page report, open for public comment through Nov. 25 finds that the proposal by Fort Howard Development LLC would have "no significant impacts" on air, water, wildlife, land use or local traffic, and "no significant public controversy is anticipated.

Dr. Joseph M. Miller Sr., former chief of surgery at Fort Howard Veterans Affairs Medical Center and a World War II combat surgeon, died of arteriosclerosis Aug. 9 at the Glen Meadows retirement community in Glen Arm. He was 92 and formerly lived in Timonium. Dr. Miller was born and raised in Yonkers, N.Y., and earned his bachelor's degree in 1931 from Columbia University. After graduating from Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1935, he completed his internship at St. John's Riverside Hospital in New York.

For the past several weeks, Tom Turner's answering-machine message stated: "Don't forget to do something nice for veterans because there would be no Fourth of July without veterans." True to his word, the 44-year- old disabled veteran held yesterday his 16th annual picnic for patients at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Fort Howard. By noon, a parade of veterans using wheelchairs made their way to the open-air pavilion and park beside the water, where Turner and a platoon of five friends dished out grilled chicken, hamburgers, potato salad and soft drinks.

A recent letter to the Sun by Martin K. Van Horn ("PBS documentary on War of 1812 was flawed," Oct. 14) and an article by Fred Rasmussen ("War of 1812 turned at North Point," Oct. 23) complained that PBS's documentary on the War of 1812 failed to cover the Battle of North Point, "one of the few land battles the Americans won against the British. " I agree the television program, which was produced in Buffalo and Toronto, emphasized the Great Lakes Theater of War to the detriment of the Chesapeake Campaign.