Quiet Waters Park | |
---|---|
Location | Annapolis, Maryland |
Coordinates | 38°56′16″N 76°30′16″W / 38.9378908°N 76.5044043°WCoordinates: 38°56′16″N 76°30′16″W / 38.9378908°N 76.5044043°W |
Area | 340 acres (140 ha) |
Quiet Waters Park is a park located in eastern Anne Arundel County, Maryland, USA. The park contains 340 acres (1.4 km2) and is operated by the Anne Arundel Recreation and Parks. It is open year-round. Organizations using the park include The Friends of Quiet Waters Park. As of 2010, it attracts 700,000 visitors a year.
The park opened on Labor Day, 1990 after a protracted political fight. Then County Executive, O. James Lighthizer, later said that getting the park open was "the toughest political fight in my 16 years of politics," but that it was worth it because after it opened "everybody in the community, no exceptions, loved it."
The land where the park now sits was purchased by developers in early 1986, who planned 250 luxury homes. When neighboring communities found out, the city of Annapolis and Lighthizer intervened, and the land was purchased by the county. Some in the community felt that the land should be left untouched, but a plan for a park, modeled after Druid Hill Park in Baltimore and Central Park in New York City, was put in motion. The park cost $12 million to develop, surpassing the original estimate of $8 million.