Mayor: Mount Airy has signed purchase agreement for police station site; seeks pedestrian crossing and rails-to-trails connections, pledges Flatiron restoration

Mayor Larry Hushauer said the town has signed a purchase agreement for two acres of land intended for a new Mount Airy Police Department facility and estimated the building would be completed in about three years.

"Most recently in the news, you have probably heard that your elected officials have been working on acquiring property and setting a course on the construction of a police station for the Mount Airy Police Department. We have signed a purchase agreement on 2 acres of land and this new building should be completed in about 3 years," Hushauer said.

Hushauer described the decision to proceed as a response to rising property and materials costs and said the town cannot continue to delay the project. He said a separate priority is a safe pathway across Highway 27 "for pedestrian traffic, be it on foot or bicycle," to ease traffic and parking during downtown events and to connect amenities on both sides of the highway. He said options include a tunnel or a pedestrian bridge and cited the B&O Old Main Line rail corridor as an important recreational asset.

On the Frederick County side of Main Street, Hushauer said the town must figure out how to connect a new section of trail from Hill Street to Main Street and that access across the cold storage property will be needed to complete that link. He also reiterated his commitment to restore the historic Flatiron Building and said his first-term action prevented its demolition; in a second term he said he would pursue restoration for retail, town office space and historical displays.

Hushauer did not specify the purchase price for the police station land, the funding source for construction, or formal approvals required to begin construction. He described projected timelines as approximate.