 | |
| Type | Not for profit |
| Founded | 1967 |
| Headquarters | Columbia, Maryland, United States |
| Membership | Individuals and companies |
| Budget | $74.1 Million (2015) [1] |
| Number of Members | 100,000+ |
| Founder | James Rouse |
| Chairman of the Board/CEO | Dennis Mattey |
| Website | http://www.columbiaassociation.com/ |
Columbia Association (CA) is a management organization for the financing, and maintenance of common-use facilities of The Rouse Company planned development of Columbia, Maryland.
CA was originally named The Columbia Park and Recreation Association, Inc. The association was responsible for developing public amenities, transportation systems, snow removal, and landscaping promised in its application for New Town Zoning. [2] The funding for the association would be provided by a combination assessment and use-fees. [3]
The seven-member CA board was originally staffed with representatives of the development company with James Rouse as president. The association developed a "one lot-one vote" system, with which gave majority control to the Rouse Company. Control of the association to residents was planned to transfer in phases through 1980. In 1967, 285 residents were able to establish a 5-person council in Wilde Lake, which in turn would provide the first elected board member. [4]
CA originally planned on self-sufficiency through its own taxing authority. However, in 1968, CA negotiated with the county commissioners to pay for and build the Banneker Fire Station and charge an assessment to residents to pay for the equipment. Howard County remained responsible for all continuing capital and operating expenses thereafter. [5]
By 1970, CA had grown to 5,500 members, three five-member village boards with a $1.5 million budget and $5.75 million in debt.
In 1982, the association created the Columbia Archives non-profit organization. The organization is managed by CA's Board of Directors with a mission to chronicle documents relating to Columbia and James Rouse. The organization is public relations resource for Columbia, selecting and displaying historic artifacts that place the development in a positive light. [6]
Columbia Association hosts an array of community events.
The Columbia Festival of the Arts presents four weekend-long arts festivals throughout the year, with both free and ticketed events. Festivals feature performances, exhibitions, concerts, classes and workshops, and many more activities for artists, individuals and families. [7] Founded in 1987, the festival has grown into one of the region’s premier arts events. [8]
Columbia Teen Idol is sponsored by Lord & Taylor and CA’s advisory committees. [9] [10] Following an audition process and semi-finals, the final competition features the top ten contestants performing a song of their choice. In the past, performances have included music genres such as rock, showtunes, R&B, and rap. In an effort to emulate its nationwide American Idol counterpart, starting in 2016 the finalists were provided with one-on-one training with a professional singer in the days leading up to the show. [10] In addition to the vocal competition, contestants are required to participate in volunteer activities for the community with the intention of providing a foundation of empowerment for all participants. [9] [10] The theme of 2016 was Shatter the Stigma®, a James' Place Initiative to bring a voice to the disease of addiction. [11] [9] The top three contestants receive a cash prize, and a People's Choice Award is selected by the audience. [12] Notable former award winners include Grace Davina who was presented her prize by Miss Maryland Teen USA 2014, Mariela Pepin. Semi-finals take place at Slayton House Theatre. The final competition occurs in Downtown Columbia at Lake Kittamaquindi
Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland, United States. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages. The census-designated place had a population of 104,681 at the 2020 census, making it the second most populous community in Maryland after Baltimore. Columbia, located between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., is officially part of the Baltimore metropolitan area.
James Wilson Rouse was an American businessman and founder of The Rouse Company. Rouse was a pioneering American real estate developer, urban planner, civic activist, and later, free enterprise-based philanthropist. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award, for his lifetime achievements.
Wilde Lake is a man-made drainage reservoir dug in 1966 and the name of the surrounding "village" of neighborhoods located in Columbia, Maryland, just north and west of Columbia Town Center. The village was the first part of Columbia's "New Town" to be built in the late 1960s, James W. Rouse and Frazar B. Wilde formally opened the neighborhood on June 21, 1967. The lake and village are named for Frazar B. Wilde, a past chairman of the board of Connecticut General Life Insurance Company and former employer of James Rouse. In 1963, the company agreed to fund the secret land purchases and, in return, acquired an equity participation. This arrangement was subsequently formalized by the creation of The Howard Research and Development Corporation, the joint venture established to develop Columbia.
The Rouse Company, founded by Hunter Moss and James W. Rouse in 1939, was a publicly held shopping mall and community developer from 1956 until 2004, when General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company.
River Hill is the last and westernmost village to be developed in the town of Columbia, Maryland, United States, though some residents maintain addresses in Clarksville. The village is home to 6,520 residents in 2,096 housing units in 2014. The area was used as a game preserve by James Rouse to entertain clients and personal hunting during the buildout of the Columbia project. In 1976, County Executive Edward L. Cochran selected the 784-acre parcel owned by Howard Research and Development for an alternate location for a county landfill; a task force selected Alpha Ridge Landfill instead. Residential construction started in 1990. It is bounded by Maryland Route 108 and Maryland Route 32, and is centered on Trotter Road. The village is divided into two neighborhoods: Pheasant Ridge and Pointers Run, with about 6,500 residents.
Kings Contrivance is a village in the planned community of Columbia, Maryland, United States and is home to approximately 11,000 residents. It is Columbia's southernmost village, and was the eighth of Columbia's ten villages to be developed. Kings Contrivance consists of the neighborhoods of Macgill's Common, Huntington and Dickinson, and includes single-family homes, townhouses, apartments and a Village Center.
Merriweather Post Pavilion is an outdoor concert venue located within Symphony Woods, a 40-acre (160,000 m2) lot of preserved land in the heart of the planned community of Columbia, Maryland. In 2010, Merriweather was named the second best amphitheater in the United States by Billboard magazine. The venue was also ranked as the fourth best amphitheater in the United States by Rolling Stone in 2013. It was again ranked by Consequence of Sound at number 29 of all music venues in the nation out of 100 in 2016.
Howard County General Hospital is a 225-bed, not-for-profit health care provider located in Columbia, Maryland.
Howard Community College is a public community college in Columbia, Maryland. It offers classes for credit in more than 100 programs, non-credit classes, and workforce development programs. In addition to the main campus in Columbia, courses are also held at two satellite campuses.
Oakland Mills is one of the 10 villages in Columbia, Maryland, United States. It is located immediately east of Town Center, across U.S. Route 29.
Long Reach, one of ten villages composing Columbia, Maryland, United States, is found in the northeast part of Columbia along Maryland Route 108. Started in 1971, it is one of the oldest villages, and comprises four neighborhoods: Jeffers Hill, Kendall Ridge, Locust Park, and Phelps Luck. The village, with an approximate population of 15,600, is governed by five elected village board members through "Long Reach Community Association, Inc." The Village Office is located in Stonehouse, the community center, which opened in 1974.
Harper's Choice is one of the ten villages that comprise Columbia, Maryland, United States. It lies in the northwest part of Columbia and consists of the neighborhoods of Longfellow, Swansfield, and Hobbit's Glen and had a December 1998 population of 8,695.
The Miss California's Teen competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the U.S. state of California in the Miss America's Teen pageant.
Lake Kittamaqundi is a man made 27-acre (110,000 m2) reservoir located in Columbia, Maryland in the vicinity of the Mall in Columbia as well as Merriweather Post Pavilion. It is also adjacent to offices and visible from US-29.
The Middle Patuxent Environmental Area (MPEA) is a 1,021-acre (4.13 km2) wildlife area in Clarksville, Maryland and operated by the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks. It is located next to the River Hill village in the town of Columbia, Maryland, in the United States. The MPEA was created in 1996 for educational, research, and recreational purposes.
Charles E. Miller (1902–1979) was an American politician and businessman in Howard County, Maryland
The Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning (DPZ) manages planning and development in Howard County, Maryland, a Central Maryland jurisdiction equidistant between Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods is a large central park in downtown Columbia, Maryland. The park includes the Chrysalis, a 2016 amphitheater with lawn seating. The Chrysalis has hosted musical performances, ballet, plays, Maker Faire, and numerous community events.
Arlington is a historic slave plantation located in Columbia, Howard County, Maryland, now part of the Fairway Hills Golf Course.
Toby Barbara Orenstein is an American theatrical director, producer, and educator. She has two honorable mentions for the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre. Orenstein was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame in 2008. Selected by Eleanor Roosevelt for her federal education project in the Harlem, Orenstein taught Dramaturgy to students in a local public school in the late 1950s. In 1972, at the request of pioneering businessman and philanthropist James Rouse, Orenstein founded the non-profit Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts through which, the nationally acclaimed theatre troupe the Young Columbians was created for the United States Bicentennial. Later, Orenstein established the award-winning Toby's Dinner Theatre in 1975.
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