Fort Ritchie

CASCADE - The Maryland Information Technology Center, in conjunction with the High Technology Council of Maryland, has transferred $50,000 to PenMar Development Corp. to be used in part to promote the future of Fort Ritchie, according to a press release. The funding is part of the state's $200,000 commitment to the 1998 World Congress on Information Technology, to be held in June in Northern Virginia. The vision of Fort Ritchie as a future technology and training campus will be enhanced by PenMar's participation in the World Congress by providing an international focus on redevelopment there, the release said.

Fort Ritchie vandalized By KIMBERLY YAKOWSKI kimy@herald-mail.com Vandals have broken into vacant housing units and smashed windows at Fort Ritchie, causing more than $25,000 in damage, police said. Washington County Sheriff's deputies have been called to the former U.S. Army base to investigate vandalism and burglary incidents at least five times since Jan. 1, Sgt. Mark Knight said. The most recent reports of damage were made Tuesday, after windows of a Mountain Road home on the base were shattered, and on Jan. 16, when several windows of building 700 were smashed, he said.

Fort Ritchie to house reservists By LAURA ERNDE laurae@herald-mail.com Fort Ritchie will soon house members of the U.S. Army Reserve, marking the first military use of the U.S. Army base since it was closed in October 1998. continued Abandoned barracks are being spruced up to house about 70 military police reservists who have been called up to help with homeland security since Sept. 11. The soldiers belong to the 307th Army Reserve in New Jersey and the 324th Army Reserve in Chambersburg, Pa., said Eileen Mitchell, spokeswoman for Fort Detrick.

To the editor: Please pass this question on to all Candidates for Washington County Commissioner. I would like to know the candidates plan for dealing with the PenMar Development Corporation (PMDC). PenMar Development Corp. was created by the Maryland General Assembly in 1997 to redevelop the former Fort Ritchie U.S. Army base for business use. Some 2,000 jobs were lost when Fort Ritchie closed in September 1998. (From The Morning Herald) Since Fort Ritchie (which, by the way is in Washington County, if you need directions to our corner of the county, please contact me)

CASCADE - One Mountain Foundation will host "Memories of Pen Mar" and a member appreciation day at the Fort Ritchie Community Center May 22 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event is open to the public. The event will include the following: o Pen Mar Park collectors displaying memorabilia and artifacts of Pen Mar Park and of the heyday of the railroad and hotels in and around the Cascade/Blue Ridge Summit mountaintop o Displays of historic artifacts of the Pen Mar area o Premier of a new Historical Entertainment DVD titled "Greetings from Pen Mar: The Grand Hotels of the Blue Ridge" ($5 admission fee for nonOMF members; free for OMF members)

CASCADE -- Two firms recently have located to Fort Ritchie at Cascade. Aspen Grove Inc., an independent company that provides property management solutions for bank-owned real estate, is leasing 855 square feet in Building 607 of the former U.S. Army base. The company will employ three people, according to a press release from the Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission. The second company is DJR Associates Inc., a Department of Navy and Missile Defense Agency engineering services firm.

photo: RIC DUGAN / staff photographer enlarge By SHEILA HOTCHKIN / Staff Writer FORT RITCHIE - Before Fort Ritchie's closing ceremonies Friday, Lt. Col. Francis D. Clepper Jr. surveyed an appropriately gray, overcast sky covering the installation's 638 acres. "But quite frankly, the fog lifted and the sun broke through," he said, calling the weather a harbinger of the base's bright future in civilian life. Doggedly overlooking the somber occasion at hand, organizers set the scene for Fort Ritchie's inactivation ceremony with lively music and speakers focused on upcoming opportunities for the installation.