According to public records, Anne Arundel Medical Center became the owner of Belvoir, a historic property and former slave site in Crownsville, in March 2019 for the price of $1 million.
Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center, as it is currently known, is now being accused of “demolition by neglect” of Belvoir, however they say the property is in the same condition as when they took it over.
How and why did Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center become the owner of Belvoir?
A philanthropist named Rebecca Fortney left the property to three organizations, according to Alejandra Lazcano, director of marketing and community outreach for Hospice of the Chesapeake.
Those three organizations, explained Lazcano, were St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC) and Hospice of the Chesapeake.
“AAMC offered to buy the shares to both St. Jude’s and Hospice of the Chesapeake,” she said. “$500,000 to each.”
Lazcano said the property had been appraised for $1.5 million.
$1.5 million split three ways is $500,000.
A recent article published by WYPR about the deteriorating condition of the property states, “In a statement, Justin McLeod, Luminis’s media strategist, said Belvoir was donated to the company.”
That’s partially correct – one third of it was donated to AAMC. The remaining portions were purchased by AAMC through a buyout of the other two organizations.
That AAMC purchased any part of Belvoir purchase seemed to be news to McLeod.
“I’m not aware of that,” said McLeod when questioned by this reporter. “I’d have to look into that.”
Once he looked into it, he indicated AAMC had purchased the shares of the other two organizations.
“When the other organizations ultimately declined ownership, Luminis Health agreed to purchase their shares of the property,” McLeod explained.
Prior to all that, Fortney had purchased the property and she used a company name for it.
“She created a company called Magnum Enterprises,” said Lazcano. “She owned that.”
According to Roy Griffith, headmaster of Rockbridge Academy, “In 2006, Rockbridge Academy purchased Magnum Enterprises, Limited. The Belvoir property was the single asset of that corporation, so in reality we bought the ownership of the company and received deed to the land as the company’s asset. The property itself never changed hands and was not ‘sold.'”
Griffith explained they had a “a non-recourse loan agreement” which allowed, “the school to return the property to the mortgage holder (Ms. Fortney) should Rockbridge Academy be unable to build a school building on the site.”
“Rockbridge Academy remained current on our loan payments throughout the intervening years as we undertook the necessary due diligence for future development,” he explained. “In those years, Rockbridge Academy sought to be good stewards of Belvoir, investing regularly in the upkeep of the property, including the caretaker’s cottage, occupied by our property manager, and the historic manor house, continuously occupied by the school’s Director of Development and his family during ownership. Notably, Rockbridge Academy oversaw general interior renovations, major roof and chimney repair of the Manor House to maintain the building’s structural integrity. In addition, the grounds were continuously maintained and improved, the site being used frequently by Rockbridge Academy for many school programs. The school hosted enrichment programs for students, maintained a varsity cross country team course, held fund raising events, and invited access to the historic house and grounds by various private and public organizations, collaborating with many State and local archaeological and educational initiatives. With our cooperation, the state recovered remains of a lost 18th century living quarters and cemetery of enslaved workers on site, and known descendants of the enslaved were invited to visit the grounds. In addition, the families of Rockbridge Academy invested many work days recovering the historic gardens and caring for the champion copper beech tree on the manor house lawn. “
But another property became available to the school and it would mean significantly less money to develop than Belvoir.
“In the 2018 school year an opportunity arose for Rockbridge Academy to purchase a nearby independent school building for 1/3 of the projected development cost of the Belvoir property,” explained Griffith. “To pursue this opportunity, we were required to divest ourselves of the Belvoir asset and did so by exercising the non-recourse option. In the intervening years, Ms. Fortney had passed away and left the mortgage note to a consortium of three charities, St. Jude’s Hospital, Hospice of the Chesapeake, and Anne Arundel Medical Center, to whom we had been making regular mortgage payments. A ‘deed in lieu of foreclosure’ and a ‘mutual full and final release’ were signed with those entities closing out the mortgage when the property was relinquished by Rockbridge Academy. The property was relinquished in good standing and in good condition, with improvements made, and with notable archaeological work having been collaborated on during Rockbridge Academy’s tenure.”
Thus ended the Rockbridge chapter at Belvoir.
What plans does Luminis have for the property? Develop it? Sell it?
As already mentioned, Luminis took over the property in the spring of 2019. In late 2019, people began getting sick in a place called Wuhan, China and in early 2020, the first case COVID-19 was reported in the United States.
The mission of Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center is health or more precisely, “To enhance the health of the people and communities we serve.”
“In 2019, we explored potential clinical use of the property, but those plans were paused due to several factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic,” explained McLeod.
Whatever happens to the property in the future, Belvoir is hallowed grounds. Slaves lived, died and were buried on this property. Some of their descendants still live in the area.
It wasn’t a secret that Belvoir had been home to slaves – the state of Maryland had done extensive archeological work at Belvoir, including investigations of the area where slaves were believed to be buried.
Julie Schablitsky, Maryland Department of Transportation’s chief archeologist, had been shown the burial ground just one year before the property transferred to AAMC – all of this was well-documented by local media and in state- issued press releases.
In the WYPR article, McLeod is quoted as saying, “We appreciate its historical significance to its ancestors and our community. The Belvoir House remains in the same condition as when it was gifted to us, and we have engaged a professional property management company to maintain it.”
Others disagree with McLeod’s statement the property is in the same condition as it was – this includes Schablitsky, who happens to be the foremost, archeological authority on Belvoir.
“It’s sad – it’s heartbreaking,” said Schablitsky of the condition the property is currently in.
Schablitsky said Rockbridge Academy was a good caretaker, in part because they had people living on the property.
“It was being lived in,” she explained. “That’s the most important thing, not only with historic houses, but any house.”
Schablitsky explained if someone is living on the property, they keep an eye on things and don’t let it deteriorate.
“They (Rockbridge) were a very good steward,” she said.
The roof of the main house needed to be replaced 10 years ago and it still needs to be, Schablitsky said.
Some of the descendants of the Belvoir slaves shared their concerns about the property’s current condition in the WYPR article.
“You’re in a situation where there’s demolition by neglect happening,” Schablitsky explained.
That’s a serious accusation – especially for a property that has so much historical significance.
“The home remains in the same condition as when it was gifted,” offered McLeod. ” It is maintained by a professional property management company and has been inspected multiple times in recent years by the County’s Office of Planning and Zoning. Luminis Health has fully cooperated with all inspections and addressed any concerns raised.”
In any area with historic properties, there’s no shortage of those that have fallen into disrepair, but this one is different –Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center, according to public records, has over a $1 billion in assets and over $10 million in investment income.
In other words, the current owner of Belvoir has money – as mentioned, $1 million of it went into purchasing the shares of the other two organizations that Fortney gifted the property to.
Let’s say, hypothetically, the condition of Belvoir is somewhere the middle of being in “same condition as when it was gifted” and “sad” – it likely still needs work regardless of when it started looking less than what it could or should look like it.
Schablitsky questioned why Anne Arundel County isn’t stepping up and doing anything about Belvoir – she specifically called out Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman’s recent apology for slavery which to her, seemed to represent words with no action.
It seems like Luminis would be open to a public-private partnership.
“While there are no immediate plans for development, we remain committed to identifying a partner who understands and honors the site’s history,” stated McLeod. “Over the years, we have had discussions with Anne Arundel County and several nonprofit organizations about how the property might serve as a community asset.”
Pittman’s office offered the following statement, “At this time, the Historic Preservation Planning of Anne Arundel County has confirmed the following: The County currently holds a preservation easement on the property. The department is not aware of any previous County plans or discussions to purchase the property. They have heard that the neighboring community, Belvoir Farms, has expressed an interest in purchasing the site, but the status of those efforts is unknown.”
Because this reporter never asked if the county was planning on buying the property and already knew it wasn’t for sale, it seemed like an odd answer. The county executive’s office was asked specifically for a comment about the possibility of public-private partnership, as well as Luminis being accused of “demolition by neglect.”
Gabby Reed, the communications director for Pittman, replied again, that the property was not for sale and stated, “The County Executive’s Office does not have a comment on the matter.”
It hasn’t even been a month since Pittman apologized for slavery, during which he said, “As County Executive, and as a direct descendant of Anne Arundel County enslavers, we collectively offer our inadequate and long-delayed, but deeply felt apology, and pledge to never allow this history to be forgotten as we work together toward atonement.”
“Never allow this history to be forgotten …”
Were those just words delivered by Pittman? And what did “pledge” mean to him?
That Belvoir’s history could be forgotten is exactly why Schablitsky is concerned and it’s the very reason she’s sounding the alarm bell.
“It’s something that needs to be preserved, not lost,” she said.
Donna L. Cole is an award-winning investigative and multimedia reporter.