Washington D.C. officials will push forward with plans to build a 40-acre juvenile detention center to replace the troubled Oak Hill facility, despite two Maryland lawmakers proposing legislation to relocate the facility within the District?s borders.
In an agreement reached between U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and D.C. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the parties will continue down opposite paths regarding the new detention center but compromise on the fate of the remaining 848 acres of federally owned land near Fort Meade, according to a statement released by Cardin?s office Friday.
Under a 1929 federal land grant, the District controls the land. Oak Hill was built in 1967, but in the intervening years, the facility has struggled with violence, escapes and drug use, prompting Maryland officials to try to steer it out of the state.
A spokeswoman for Cardin, who has pressed the issue since he was a congressman representing the 3rd District, said the agreement was a success, despite the deadlock on the detention center itself.
“The important thing is that they’re moving forward with the land,” said Susan Sullam, Cardin? spokeswoman.
Norton could not be reached.
A bill introduced by Cardin and co-sponsored by U.S. Sen.Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., would push Oak Hill off the land and divide it between the National Security Agency and the county. Rep. John Sarbanes has introduced a corresponding bill in the House.
The issue was revived in late April meeting at Oak Hill, when D.C. officials informed Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold, Sarbanes, Cardin?s chief of staff and members of Governor Martin O?Malley?s staff that construction was set to begin on a new facility.
Leopold, who strongly favors moving the facility, was caught off guard, said spokeswoman Rhonda Wardlaw.
“It surprised us all,” she said.
