04-08-2025
New nonprofit center opens in Anne Arundel County amid transformation of historic psychiatric hospital
A new support center for nonprofits opened Monday in Maryland at the site where a psychiatric hospital with a troubled past once stood.
The Nonprofit Center at Crownsville Hospital Memorial Park in Anne Arundel County is part of an ongoing effort to transform the infamous hospital into a mental health care and education hub.
The Nonprofit Center will help existing organizations expand and help new ones launch by providing professional development and other services, according to Maryland Senator Chris Van Holle, who attended the ribbon-cutting on Monday.
The facility will also include a community space where wellness services and other programs will be provided to the public.
Van Hollen was among the state leaders who pushed for $3 million in funding for the center to be included in Congress's fiscal year 2023 funding bill.
The county's effort to transform Crownsville Hospital began in 2022 after it acquired the property from the state, renaming it Crownsville Hospital Memorial Park.
The facility initially opened in 1911 as a Black psychiatric hospital, though it was desegregated in 1963. The hospital had a history of neglecting and mistreating patients, and some reported having medical experiments performed on them, the Associated Press reported.
The use of the hospital dwindled in the 1960s, and the facility closed in 2004 due to budget concerns. Maryland sought to redevelop the location in 2008.
Bowie State University later joined Anne Arundel County as a partner with the goal of bringing educational programs and wellness resources to the redesigned memorial park.
In February 2025, the county shared its final transformation plan, designating the park as a place for nonprofit organizations that provide behavioral health services, food assistance, job training and other health services to the community. In requesting proposals from the community and stakeholders, the county decided to allocate one of the buildings on the property as the Nonprofit Center.
Other buildings on the campus will house nonprofit organizations like the Anne Arundel County Food Bank and Hope House, a nonprofit that offers substance abuse and mental health services.
The transformed park will also feature art pieces and sculptures from Black artists that tell the hospital's history, a museum and a recreation area with athletic facilities and outdoor and indoor spaces.
Construction for the redeveloped memorial park is estimated to cost more than $67 million, according to the final plan. The project includes both short- and long-term aspects, some of which are anticipated to take over five years to complete.
