A panel of university and city leaders came together to discuss the transformation of College Park into a more attractive, thriving college town. Topics included development project, notably The Hotel, as well as the local economy, public safety, and housing.
The focus of the discussion was bettering College Park as a part of the Greater College Park Vision, a collaborative effort between the city and university. Matt Schnabel, the Diamondback’s editor-in-chief, served as the moderator for the discussion, guiding it with numerous prepared general and individual questions for the panel members before moving on to questions from community members.
Over 100 people gathered in the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center on Tuesday for the event hosted by the Diamondback. The panel included College Park Mayor Patrick Wojahn; David Hillman, founder and CEO of The Hotel’s developer, Southern Management Corporation; Assistant Deputy CAO for Economic Development of Prince George’s County David Iannucci; University of Maryland’s Vice President of Administration and Finance Carlo Colella; and Executive Director of the College Park City-University Partnership Eric Olson.
“A college town is a city that is able to utilize and leverage resources that come with having a university in your midst,” Wojahn said. He also expressed his excitement about the development of The Hotel on Route 1.
Other panel members also came out in great support of the project, saying it will have a positive effect on the College Park and become a part of bringing together the city and university communities.
“It will transform our downtown area,” Hillman said. The Hotel’s central location, four restaurants, and a large art-filled bar, among other amenities, will increase walkability along Route 1 and “create pedestrian traffic in front of the university,” he said.
Iannucci also said he hopes that as development continues, College Park will start “overcoming the bad reputation” it has an unsafe and unappealing place to live. The hope is that university employees and others will be tempted to live in College Park full time as it transforms, he said.
Wojahn expressed his excitement for a new city hall with an outdoor public space, another development project he hopes will help transform the city.
“We see this as an opportunity to bring a great new amenity to the downtown area,” he said about the city hall space. “This will be the place where community and city meet.”
The panel addressed concerns about how new developments being built and new businesses moving in may affect the existing businesses and residents of College Park.
“The more the better,” Iannucci said, calling the University of Maryland a powerhouse and saying that he has “no fear” that all businesses will be well-off as College Park is transformed.
While a large part of the focus is on the downtown area, the city is also working to improve smaller-scale neighborhoods like Cherry Hill and Hollywood, according to Wojahn. He said this is important to “making College Park a place people want to come not just for school, but to stay full-time.”
According to Olson, the city government hopes to create bike paths to connect the whole city, bring in thousands of new jobs, and reduce traffic in order to make College Park an attractive place for people to live.
“With the right leadership you can get almost anything done,” he said.