Glen Updates

The proposed widening of the Beltway section that would adversely affect the historic landscape of National Park Seminary has for the time being been put on hold, but SOS continues to monitor any action that revisits this potential encroachment.

Thanks to a grant from Preservation Maryland and the Maryland Historical Trust, SOS was able to contract for a feasibility study of the most deteriorated features in the Glen—the Grand Staircase, the Grotto hillside, and bridge to the Spring. Repair and restoration are feasible, although expensive, so SOS will plan the next steps to save these features.

Beltway Project Threatens NPS Landscape

The threat to the historic Glen at National Park Seminary has now received national attention. The Cultural Landscape Foundation, a nationally recognized nonprofit organization, has named the Glen a “Landslide” property due to the threat from potential widening of the Beltway as well as its overall decline from erosion, neglect, and age. You can help stop the “landslide” by sharing this article and supporting SOS’s efforts to protect and restore this historic landscape.

Beltway Expansion

The state of Maryland is pursuing a plan to expand the I-495 Beltway that will adversely affect National Park Seminary. SOS has actively taken the following position regarding this plan.

THE GLEN AT NATIONAL PARK SEMINARY: THREATENED BY I-495 EXPANSION

Save Our Seminary believes that expansion of I-495 will cause irreversible harm to the campus of the former National Park Seminary, damaging a woodland landscape and its historic artifacts, all protected under conservation and historic easements. We therefore oppose any proposed alternatives by the Maryland Department of Transportation for the I-495 & I-270 P3 Program that result in widening I-495.

The following attributes support the protection of the Glen from roadway expansion:

• The Glen is part of National Park Seminary, a Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places.
• As such, the Glen is protected by a Preservation Easement with the Maryland Historic Trust.
• The Glen is also protected by Category 1 Conservation Easements from the Maryland-National Capital Parks & Planning Commission, which prohibit construction within the easements.
• Over 800 linear feet of the Glen is bordered by I-495 and would be affected by roadway expansion.
• Conversion of this woodland to road would be a significant loss of green infrastructure that performs a vital role in rainwater and temperature management, as well as loss of habitat for native species.
• Historic assets such as a bridge abutment and stone wall would be lost, in a property where there has already been significant loss from previous development.