Federal and local leaders on Monday celebrated Baltimore County’s recent purchase of 85 acres for parkland purposes, applauding it as a way to reverse decades of pollution and a rare moment of bipartisan cooperation.

Last week, the Baltimore County Council approved a plan to use $10 million in state funds to purchase 85 acres on the former C.P. Crane coal plant site in Bowleys Quarters from North Carolina realty firm Forsite Development. The county plans to use those acres to preserve it as a park, but it’s uncertain when it will open. The Department of Parks and Recreation plans to first gather community feedback, according to agency director Bob Smith.

At a Monday news conference, elected officials including County Council members, the Baltimore County executive and U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen said the deal came together after years of advocacy by community groups in nearby Seneca Park and Bowleys Quarters.

The plant closed in 2018 after environmental regulators cited it for exceeding pollution limits and failing to test its emission levels. It changed owners multiple times, but plans to redevelop the site for housing or to reopen the plant as a natural gas facility fell through after residents pushed back. In 2022, Forsite demolished the candy cane-looking smoke stacks that served as a navigational marker for boaters and pilots from nearby Martin State Airport.

“The candy cones were good for boaters, but less so for the environment,” said Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. “We knew that there was an opportunity to preserve the site as both open space and parkland, and also to find ways to support the transition to a more modern green economy and future.”

Local advocates began lobbying County Councilman David Marks and other officials to preserve it as a park, according to Seneca Park Improvement Association Vice President Bonny Jasinski.

“We enjoy and appreciate the natural wonder that is the Chesapeake Bay, and know the reality of its fragile ecosystem,” Jasinski said. “We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here. The purchase of this property will connect and extend that undeveloped land in combination with local, state and federal lands.”

“People talk a lot about how government doesn’t work these days, but here’s an example of government working together across party lines and in partnership with neighborhoods,” said Marks, an Upper Falls Republican. He described the negotiations as “complex.”

Forsite will still own 33 acres on the site and is in charge of cleaning up the site, which includes a dilapidated pier, parking lot and warehouse. The company is applying for permits to build a battery storage center, according to Chief Operating Officer Ryan Ford.

Baltimore County will receive an additional $1.7 million in federal funding to acquire right-of-way easements to connect the property via a rail trail to Marshy Point Nature Center and Eastern Regional Park, according to U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat.

“There are very limited amounts for these congressionally directed spending projects, earmarks, so the ones that rise to the top are ones that are well thought-out and have community support,” Van Hollen said.