Update: Middletown, Maryland – Synergy in Full Swing

Local Spotlight 

By Kristen E. Humphrey, MLA, Local Assistance and Training Planner  

This article provides an update on exciting developments in and around historic Middletown’s main street, originally described in the December 8, 2021 edition of Planning Practice Monthly.

The wonderful synergy described in our original article, entitled An Historic Main Street Sees New Life: Middletown, Maryland Takes Off, has continued in Middletown, demonstrating yet again, that vitality can be brought to an entire town and surrounding area when new life is breathed into its main street. 

Maryland Department of Planning’s 2022 Brownfields Webinars Recordings Now Available Online

Planning in Progress

by Kristen E. Humphrey, MLA, Local Assistance and Training Planner

As part of the Maryland Department of Planning’s (Planning) ongoing commitment to advancing brownfield assessment, remediation, and redevelopment in the state, the department hosted a three-part webinar series in June. Entitled “From Due Diligence to Redevelopment,” the three-part series provided information and tools to officials and community stakeholders, with sessions about environmental due diligence, the new ASTM Phase I ESA Standard, and revitalization and redevelopment.

The sessions provided attendees opportunities to learn not only essential environmental and statutory requirements for brownfield property transactions from regulatory, legal, and consultant experts, but also the chance to benefit from the redevelopment knowhow of federal, state, and real estate development specialists. Recordings of the sessions can be viewed on Planning’s website.  

From Due Dilgence to Redevelopment: Announcing Brownfields Webinar Series in June

In Case You Missed It!

The Maryland Department of Planning is pleased to announce its three-part Brownfields Webinar Series to be held this June. We will be holding three informative webinars throughout the month. Maryland’s brownfields provide a unique opportunity for communities to meet economic development goals, environmental protection and sustainability goals, and help achieve local comprehensive plan visions and objectives.

An Historic Main Street Sees New Life: Middletown, Maryland Takes Off

Local Spotlight

By Kristen E. Humphrey, MLA, Local Assistance and Training Planner 

A brief history of Middletown: 

Founded in 1767, Middletown lies about 60 miles west of Baltimore, eight miles west of the City of Frederick, and 20 miles southeast of Hagerstown, in Frederick County, Maryland. The town sits along the original National Road, the first federally funded road, created by an act of Congress in 1806.  

One if its greatest claims to fame is that during the Civil War, Middletown was a route for both armies to the historic battles waged at Antietam (20 miles to the west on the border of West Virginia) and South Mountain (25 miles north on the Pennsylvania border). Following the famously gruesome battles, Middletown’s churches and homes tended to the wounded, among them Col. Rutherford B. Hayes, future reconstructionist and 19th President of the United States.