this city has put the effort in and is now seeing the tangible results. “Things are just great in town,” Mayor Burris begins. “The businesses are doing well, and things are great here in town compared to back in the 90’s.” “I have pictures of 20 boarded-up buildings. Businesses were leaving. We had a courthouse and a post office being moved out of downtown Leonardtown to Route Five,”Mayor Burris continues. Thanks to the groundwork put in by the previous mayor, both of these institutions remained, and further steps were taken to begin to revamp the downtown area, Mayor Burris points out. “The previous mayor stepped up and kept things going and now we have so much going on.” A REVITALIZED DOWNTOWN THROUGH COLLABORATION “We are right on Breton Bay that goes out into the Potomac River, and we have redone the wharf area and still have plans to do even more down there,” Mayor Burris describes when trying to encapsulate the magnitude of the work that has taken place in and around the city’s waterfront and downtown area. Laschelle McKay echoes the Mayor’s comments and adds, “St Mary’s County is a rural area, but Leonardtown is one of the two designated growth areas for the county.” “Eighty percent of our economy in St Mary’s County is Patuxent River Naval Air Station, so we are drawing a lot of people from there. Things are good here, and this is the place people want to live, work, and play,” McKay adds. As plans materialize for the downtown area and dynamic commercial growth continues in and around the waterfront, Mayor Burris highlights that the city has continued to take a systematic approach toward economic development and revitalization. Collaboration, as well as valuing consistency in leadership and management, Mayor Burris points out, have been the key to the city’s ongoing success and bright prospects moving forward 291 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 05, ISSUE 07 LEONARDTOWN, MD
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