Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Fort Howard VAMC Damaged and Rotting


Photography by David Robert Crews {a.k.a. ursusdave}

For nearly a decade, the Fort Howard Veterans Affairs Medical Center property has been used and abused by various people from near and far. Young people party there. Many kids and adults explore the spooky old buildings - some wanting to experience proof of the place being haunted. Thieves steal copper and other metals for selling to recyclers. Worst of all, destructive vandalism - by oodles of ignorant jackasses - is a consistent evil force wreaking havoc all through the place.

The VA has permitted: police swat team members to practice hostage rescues there, and I've heard stories of the cops blasting doors open with explosives; I have also heard that fire department personnel in training cut a huge hole in a beautiful antique hardwood floor; movie and television crews use the hospital building for film sets. But I've heard that the VA is not paid for any of those VA approved uses. I understand the good in allowing the police and fire departments to use - but they shouldn't abuse - the property for free. The wealthy movie and TV production companies, though, should pay rental fees - monies that can help the VA afford better care for American military veterans.

The property has been woefully neglected by the VA. Ever since the VA hospital there was closed in 2002, the VA hasn't done much maintenance work on the property. And although there is still a small medical clinic serving vets at Ft. Howard, many people believe the place to be abandoned property. That clinic has recently lost copper wiring to thieves, which cut off the clinic's phone and Internet access, even though that doctors' office is clearly in daily use by the VA.

I have created a set of "Ft. Howard VA Damaged and Rotting" photographs that clearly reveal how terrible it is there today. Plus, the photos show what great, historically significant and important buildings there are on the Ft. Howard VA property. Those superbly constructed, large, old wooden homes, seen in amongst my photographs, were built a century ago - by true craftsmen.

I have added a few of the photos to this blog post. Unfortunately, I can't add more, because, my current Internet connection doesn't upload files very well. But, if you go to my Flickr pages, you can view the full photo set of "Ft. Howard VA Damaged and Rotting" here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ursusdave/sets/72157628453938431/


The View From Ft. Howard Veterans Hospital Grounds


Photography by David Robert Crews {a.k.a. ursusdave}

A ship passing Craig Hill Upper Channel Light, seen from the Fort Howard VAMC property.

You may already be aware of the ongoing efforts to save the Fort Howard Veterans Affairs Medical Center property - the old Ft. Howard VA Hospital - for veterans only. The situation is rapidly heating up, and I shall continue working on it partly through a series of blog posts on this web site. The VA and commercial property developers are intent on building 1400 living units, several retail outlets and some commercial office spaces on the Ft. Howard VA grounds. They will have to have a VA medical clinic there, and a small clinic is all there is in use there today. The local community knows, many veterans (including myself) know that 400 living units plus more VA health care facilities is the best way to redevelop that property.

For everyone to understand what the Ft. Howard VA has that is extremely valuable to the veterans community, and the local Ft. Howard/Millers Island/Edgemere/Dundalk community, all must see what the view is like from that VAMC property. On Flickr, I have uploaded a set of videos and photos of that Patapsco River/Chesapeake Bay waterfront property view for you:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ursusdave/sets/72157627769536063/

Monday, March 05, 2012

The Road To And From The Ft. Howard VAMC


Photography by David Robert Crews {a.k.a. ursusdave}

Looking up Old North Point Road, from here at the gate for the Fort Howard VAMC - the old VA hospital - you can see the entrance to/exit from Baltimore County's Ft. Howard Park there on the right side just outside the VAMC gate.

You may have already ready been aware of the ongoing efforts to save the Fort Howard Veterans Affairs Medical Center property for veterans only. The VA and commercial property developers are intent on building 1400 living units, several retail outlets and some commercial office spaces on the Ft. Howard VA grounds. They will have to have a VA medical clinic there, and a small clinic is all there is in use there today. The local community knows, many veterans (including myself) know, that more VA health care facilities, plus a maximum of 400 living units, is the best way to redevelop that property.

Old North Point Road is the main road going into and coming out of the Fort Howard Veterans Affairs Medical Center. For nearly four miles, that road is the only way out of, or into, the VA property - which is located down in way out on the North Point Peninsula. Every side road - connected to that four-mile section of Old N. Point Rd. - is a short ride to waterfront property.

For those of you who have never been to Ft. Howard to be able to understand what the proposed development of the Ft. Howard VA will mean to the adjacent communities, in terms of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, I have created a set of photos and videos of the main road to and from Ft. Howard. That road cannot handle an increase in traffic from the proposed over-development of the Ft. Howard VAMC property. The full set of photos and videos is at:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/ursusdave/sets/72157627998713755/