Trademark Homes proposes single‑family and senior housing for Harford Memorial Hospital site; council and neighbors largely supportive

Trademark Homes outlined a multi‑phase plan Tuesday to redevelop the former Harford Memorial Hospital property at 501 South Union Avenue, telling the Havre de Grace City Council the site will return to a neighborhood scale with single‑family homes, a memorial park and a restricted senior‑housing component designed to let residents "age in place."

"The hospital is really the heart" of the historic town, Clark Turner, representing Trademark Homes, said during a slide presentation. Turner said the company was selected by the University of Maryland Medical System to purchase the site and proposed creating "Hartford Memorial Park" with a bronze statue, benches, gardens and placards to memorialize the hospital’s nearly 100‑year history.

Turner told the council the property includes seven interconnected buildings built between the 1940s and 1970s, making adaptive reuse costly; his team therefore proposes a mix of new single‑family homes that match the scale and architecture of Washington Street and Union Avenue, rear‑alley garages and a cluster of single‑level homes with wider doorways and hallways intended for older residents. "This is an attempt to do something that is very keeping in character with the town," Turner said. He also said some parking‑lot work that does not require demolition could start earlier to show progress while environmental analysis and remediation proceed.

Neighbors who live nearby praised the proposal. Diane Williams, whose home is a block from the hospital site, said she "strongly support[s] the idea of the single family homes" and appreciated early community outreach. Multiple council members echoed support while asking for additional detail on demolition, environmental cleanup timelines and how historical elements will be selected for the memorial.

Timeline and next steps: Turner estimated roughly four months to complete environmental bidding, another four months for cleanup, three months for demolition and two months to crush masonry for potential reuse, though he emphasized market conditions will affect overall construction timing. The council president asked staff to schedule a work session to review plans and hear additional citizen input.

What it means: The proposal aims to replace a large institutional site with housing that preserves neighborhood character and includes memorial elements for the hospital’s historical role. More detailed engineering, environmental assessments and community meetings are expected before any demolition begins.