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NEWS RELEASE

June 22, 2010

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Glenwood Community Center Renamed After Late Recreation & Parks Director Gary J. Arthur

ELLICOTT CITY, MD – On Saturday, June 19, at a memorial service to honor the former longtime Director of Howard County’s Department of Recreation and Parks, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman announced that the Glenwood Community Center in Cooksville has been renamed the Gary J. Arthur Community Center. Over 450 people attended Saturday’s memorial service.

“Our Recreation and Parks system is among the best in the nation, and Gary was the driving force behind that success,” said County Executive Ulman. “Gary helped develop the Glenwood Community Center and actually lived on the property before the new center was built. Renaming it after him made all the sense in the world and is a fitting tribute to a person who had such an impact on the development of our parks, park facilities and the quality recreation and leisure programs and services available in Howard County.”

Gary began his public service career with Howard County’s Department of Recreation & Parks in 1979; in 1980, he was named Chief for the Department’s Bureau of Recreation; and in 1998 he was appointed Director of the Department. Under his leadership, the Glenwood Community Center, Western Regional Park, the Meadowbrook Athletic Complex (The MAC) and Meadowbrook Park were all developed and opened. Gary also oversaw the Blandair Regional Park advisory committee, was part of the design process and helped develop the final master plan. In addition, Gary supervised the development and construction of the soon-to-open North Laurel Park and Community Center and the Robinson Nature Center.

The Gary J. Arthur Community Center is a true “community facility” built to serve the growing population in the western part of the county. Located within Western Regional Park, the facility is shared by the Departments of Recreation & Parks, Health, and Police as well as the Office on Aging. The Center features a fitness room, commercial kitchen, double gymnasium, pre-school classrooms, multi-purpose rooms, senior activity room and much more.