A Message from the Golden Mile Alliance
The Golden Mile Alliance would like to thank everyone who participated in or attended our “Status of the Mile” meeting on April 28 for making the meeting an outstanding success.
The Alliance has a passion for the Golden Mile that is fueled by family memories of living, working, and playing on Golden Mile. A sense of place that we want to share with others and carry into the future as reflected in our mission to drive the Golden Mile area to be a welcoming, economically strong, and desirable commercial and residential community.
The “Status of the Mile” meeting was our opportunity to expand our community outreach, to share our passion and mission, and to inform the community of actions, activities, and improvements happening on the Golden Mile by the Alliance and our partners the City of Frederick. Most importantly, the meeting was the Alliance’s opportunity to give you – the business and residential community – a voice. The opportunity for you to provide your input on those actions, activities and improvement you would like to see on the Golden Mile moving forward thereby helping the Alliance plan its future activities and actions. The GMA plans to continue holding these meetings with our community and the next meeting will be in the September time frame.
And for those unable to attend, here’s a Quick recap of some of the major projects & initiatives under way within the Route 40 community:
Westside Regional Park
Work and planning continues to progress at Westside Regional Park. Initial work has included the widening of Butterfly Lane, re-routing of Himes Ave with the addition of a traffic circle, the construction of the internal park road - Contender Way, and the construction of parking lots on both the north and south side of Contender Way to accommodate current and future park development
photo credit: Michael DeMattia
This Spring, Phase I of Sophie and Madigan’s Playground was completed. Phase II could begin as early as this fall and the installation of restroom unit adjacent to the playground will be completed with in the next month or two. Rough grading and seeding of 8 multipurpose fields has been completed and is currently growing in. The City’s Parks and Recreation Department will be inspecting fields later this spring with hopes that some or all could be usable as early as this fall.
The National Park Service continues to occupy the old farmstead as a storage facility for their Historic Preservation Training Center. The organization has renovated many of the old sheds and structures. There are plans also to renovate the existing dairy barn. Discussions continue with the NPS to expand their footprint at the location to construct a more permanent facility. The proposed facility would include a mix-use community room for Parks and Rec.
The City continues to seek partners and grant funding to help develop other areas in the new regional park.
Facade Improvement Grants
Each year, the Golden Mile Alliance administers a match grant program for façade improvements along Route 40. Last year, the Golden Mile Alliance approved funding for 11 new projects. The program is offered annually. More information for those interested in future projects can be found here.
District 40 - Mall Revitalization Project
Re-branded as ‘District 40,’ the former Frederick Towne Mall property is being positioned for revitalization. Over the past year, the property welcomed its first new tenants including: Warehouse Cinemas, Frederick Furniture, and the Taj Mahal Restaurant. The remaining space continues to be marketed to prospective tenants. Investing significantly in the uplift of the building’s exterior, Warehouse Cinemas was a recipient of a Façade Improvement Grant from the Golden Mile Alliance.
Stonegate Basketball Court Renovation
The $115,000 renovation of Stonegate Basketball Court was completed in the spring of 2020 with grant funding through the Project Open Space Community Parks and Playground Program.
The project replaced the existing court that was failing due to root invasion of neighboring trees. The court was moved away from trees and given an entirely new surface, new fencing, basketball goals and lighting. The courts have been very popular and highly used.
Frederick County Square
DLC Management acquired Frederick County Square in 2019. Since that time, the group has successfully repositioned the 227,000 SF shopping center previously anchored by K-Mart.
The 94,000 SF K-Mart box store has been divided to host: Harbor Freight, Ollies Bargain Outlet, Lidl (coming soon), and a new Goodwill store (coming soon). Two new pad sites are also underdevelopment on the property.
Butterfly Ridge Elementary School Rec Center
Butterfly Ridge Elementary School Rec Center opened in 2019 as one of four satellite recreation sites at FCPS facilities. Unfortunately, the facility has been closed since the pandemic began last March.
When the facility reopens, it will serve as Rec Center after school hours and on weekends to serve the community through rentals and programming. The City’s Parks and Recreation Department were operating Family Nights on a weekly basis prior to COVID and will look to bring that program back soon.
Enterprise Zone
In 2018, the Golden Mile Alliance & The City of Frederick lent critical support to the designation of the Route 40 area as a State Enterprise Zone. The designation provides real property tax credit and State Income Tax Credits to qualifying projects. The program continues to be a critical tool in attracting investment to the area. Learn more about the program here.
Megamart Opens
Construction has been completed at the new 13,390 SF Megamart on Western Drive. Now open for business, the market has an international theme and offers a variety of foods and services not offered elsewhere in the area. Learn more about the store here.
Raised Garden Plots At Overlook Park
·Funded through a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust Foundation, the City installed six raised garden beds this spring. All are already being utilized by residents and plans have been made for additional beds early summer. Maintenance for the plots is provided a group of high school volunteers managed by one of the City’s Recreation Supervisors.
GOLDEN MILE 2021 SURVEY
GMA needs your input! The Golden Mile Alliance’s mission is to create a welcoming, desirable, and economically strong commercial and residential community along Route 40. Your input is vital to the GMA achieving its mission. Complete the online request for feedback and suggestions here.