Village Center

NationsBank plans to close its branch in Columbia's Wilde Lake Village Center this fall, leaving the new town's original village center without a bank for the first time in more than 25 years.NationsBank plans to renovate a nearby branch in the Harper's Choice village.An official from the Rouse Co. -- which owns the Wilde Lake center -- said the company is searching for a new bank to take the departing branch's place.NationsBank also plans to pull its automated teller machine out of Wilde Lake, said Marny Needle, the bank's senior executive for Howard County.

As reported Jan. 14, 1982, in The Howard Sun: Oakland Mills village center merchants, accustomed to ringing in the new year with the merry jingle of cash registers, have been witnessing a disconcerting new variety of seasons greetings in their shop windows this year. "The Bakers Peel regretfully announces its cessation of operation. May success be just ahead of you in 1982," reads the poster taped to Columbia's bake shop, an Oakland Mills tenant since 1970. Just next door, the Paper Carousel, usually crammed with Christmas and New Year's cards, lies vacant after its shutdown last July.

Columbia's 10th and last village center, River Hill, opens today, but it hardly resembles the design of, or philosophy behind, the planned community's nine other commercial focal points.The red-brick strip mall with a 63,000-square-foot Giant and 11 other stores was not placed in the center of the village whose name it bears, but rather on Route 108 and near Route 32 to draw customers from Clarksville and other areas in western Howard County."Each village center, we try to improve on its design.

THE SUN rose like a fiery red ball at dawn New Year's Eve. Not long after, at 7: 30 a.m. Fridayin the Village of Kings Contrivance, neighbors stood in line enjoying free coffee and doughnuts, waiting for Columbia's newest Safeway supermarket to open. A month ago, Valu Food, the local grocery chain that occupied the 44,000-square-foot space in the village center, declared bankruptcy. Safeway Inc. acquired the property and was able to refit it in time for the New Year's Eve opening. The early-morning customers waited patiently, nursing their breakfast and listening to a lively jazz duo, while politicians and company officials milled around behind a thick red ribbon.

Two boys were robbed of cash Monday after they were stopped by a gang of older males near the Dorsey's Search Village Center, Howard County police said.The boys, 11 and 12, were not injured in the robbery, police said.About 1 p.m., the boys left the village center, walked down Columbia Road and passed a van. A man in the van asked for directions. Six other men from the van then approached the boys and took an undisclosed amount of cash, police said.One of the men was decribed as a 6-foot white male, about 20 years old, weighing about 200 pounds.

THE OWEN BROWN VILLAGE Center already has several vacant stores. When the News Center and Cover to Cover Bookstore and Cafe close this month, the empty buildings will radiate an aura of failure that may send shoppers elsewhere. The aforementioned businesses had specific problems drawing customers, but some relate to how much the planned community of Columbia has changed since its origin, when the village center concept was more viable.Some comparisons ought to be made to the Oakland Mills Village Center, which last year lost its Giant grocery because of poor patronage and saw other stores founder.

The once-struggling Oakland Mills Village Center has been sold to a New York real estate investment trust that is focused on supermarket-anchored shopping centers. Cedar Shopping Centers Inc. is buying the village shopping hub for $8 million from Kimco Realty Corp. in a deal that is expected to close next month. "We think it's a very attractive shopping center in a very attractive community," said Leo S. Ullman, Cedar Shopping Centers' chief executive officer. The village center, which is anchored by a Food Lion that opened in November, becomes the third of Columbia's nine village centers to be owned by a separate entity other than Kimco.

Bucking a trend that has large, chain restaurants popping up on the edge of Columbia, a local restaurateur this week opened Sonoma's Bar & Grill in the middle of one of the planned community's older neighborhoods.Steve Heintzelman said he and his business partner spent more than $100,000 renovating an old bookstore in the 20-year-old Owen Brown Village Center. Sonoma's will serve lunch and dinner seven days a week."It's one step below white table cloths and one step above casual dining," Heintzelman said Wednesday, his second day in operation.

Concerned about the future of the Wilde Lake Village Center, some of the aging center's merchants are urging the community to help lure specialty shops to fill five vacancies there -- six vacancies when it loses its longtime bank branch next month."

The area plan for Severna Park has received high marks from residents, unlike some plans for other areas in the county.South County residents complained last week that a plan for their area is unrealistic, but Severna Park residents said this week they like the "village center" look and the mix of residential and commercial uses.'Really pleased'"Basically, people are really pleased with the outcome and appreciate the opportunity to give their input," said Larry Masterson, who is on the board of the Greater Severna Park Council.