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Seldom Seen



The other evening I attended a meeting at Historic Oakland but I almost didn’t make it because I couldn’t find it. It turned out it was in a room in the basement. Until that moment I didn’t know that the building had a functional basement. It started me thinking about how Columbia and Howard County must have more than a handful of largely unknown places and mystery haunts that most of us have never laid eyes on.

For example, if you’ve ever wondered if there’s anything under The Chrysalis, there is. Most of it is room for storage and I have actually been there because that’s where I store my materials for the Chrysalis Kids Dance parties. (The last one for the season in next Saturday, from 10-12.)

I don’t know if this truly counts as a mystery space, but it would definitely elicit the envy of Ohio’s John Kasich: I’ve been inside the teachers’ lounges in over 20 Howard County Schools. And they’re  nowhere near the hotbed of labor revolution that he thinks they are.

I think a lot of people don’t know there’s an elevator in the Other Barn. It makes the upstairs loft space accessible for those who can’t do the spiral staircase. It might come in handy if you’re attending the Lavenia Nesmith Jazz in the Mills Concert on Sunday, September 16th or the Board of Education Candidate Forum on October 15th.

And then there’s the cave in the basement of an Ellicott City business.... And the odd pointy building off Route 29...

I’m certain my readers have a wealth of knowledge about mystery spaces in the area. I’m curious. Tell me about it. I’d love to do a follow up post of “I bet you didn’t know that...”

Share your info here:

https://www.facebook.com/VillageGreenTownSquared/?ref=bookmarks

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