FREDERICK, Md. (KR) Mayor Randy McClement stopped by the Morning News Express with Bob Miller this week and gave an update about the west end of Frederick City and when Culler Lake in Baker Park will re-open.
Mayor McClement says despite the old Frederick Towne Mall site and the old Giant grocery store, the golden mile is a stable location for businesses.
“The retention rate on the Golden Mile is one of the highest in the city. So when we talk about it being vacant, it’s one of the higher areas that keeps businesses in place or if they do move, they switch and move fairly quickly. With the exception of two large visible boxes,” said Mayor McClement.
He said it was a complete shock to the builders and the city to hear the news that Walmart was scraping plans to develop at the Frederick Towne Mall location.
“We would love to have something in there, we were excited about that and making things move forward, but we’ll work with the developer and owner of property and see what we can help them do to get something in there,” said Mayor McClement.
Mayor McClement said there are improvements being made to businesses on route 40 such as the outside appearance of Outback and Famous Dave’s restaurants and other store fronts.
The Mayor said Culler Lake will re-open soon. He said the lake was filled with algae that needed to be cleaned and plants around the lake needed to be replaced. He said after a few more steps the fence will be taken down and the lake will be beautiful again.
“One of the big reasons we haven’t opened it up yet is because there is all new vegetation and plantings around the lake. If we take down the fences people are going to stomp all over it and it’s not going to have a chance to grow. So they needed to give it a chance to grow and they’re still working on some last minute punch list that need to be done,” said Mayor McClement.
He said all three fountains around the lake will be turned on soon to complete the clean up project.