An open letter to John DeWolf, senior vice president in charge of downtown Columbia development, Howard Hughes Corp:

I knew Jim Rouse, and you are not Jim Rouse. But you could be.

You have an opportunity to take a fresh look at planning for the revitalization of downtown Columbia and make it a resounding success. I hope you will do that. I hope you will start by looking at Jim Rouse's "original plan" for the downtown area, some elements of which have already been accomplished.

Mr. Rouse's original plan called for a music venue (Merriweather Post Pavilion), hospital (Howard County General), college (Howard Community College), parkland (Symphony Woods), shopping (The Mall in Columbia), lake and public lakefront (Kittamaqundi), commercial and office space (many multi-story buildings including a hotel) and other amenities often found in a city's central core, such as a central library. Howard Hughes can build on these elements and address what is missing.

The good news is that many of the owners of those core structures have continually improved and/or expanded their properties. We can thank our county and state governments, the Columbia Association and private owners such as the hospital and the several owners of the mall that, through the years, have stepped up to the plate to pay for improvements to their properties.

But, as you know, some of Columbia's early structures have been neglected and are now clearly in need of repair and/or upgrades, i.e., the Howard Hughes Corp. headquarters building, other buildings now owned by the Howard Hughes Corp.,and some other privately owned downtown commercial and office buildings. If a property owner chooses to take a depreciation tax allowance for a property each year but doesn't keep up the property, should taxpayers pay for the revitalization or redevelopment costs for that property? And shouldn't private property owners who will benefit from downtown revitalization pay for some of the infrastructure costs and some of the cost of the amenities that will increase the value of their properties?

However, to continue in a positive vein, I do have a further suggestion for revitalizing the downtown area: Include some of the amenities or attractions that were suggested in the original Rouse plan but never materialized. For example, consider including a small sports stadium, museum, special school such as an art school, small parks or a Tivoli-like park. Or, perhaps, consider similar but more contemporary amenities such as separate bike lanes and bike parking structures, an integrated skateboard area or a convertible sprinkler and fountain/small ice rink.

If the Howard Hughes Corp. were to redevelop downtown Columbia with a more reasonable number of residences and a more reasonable amount of commercial and office space (much less than in the current plan) and include amenities throughout the downtown area attractive to all ages and different interests, the redevelopment of downtown Columbia would be a complete success story. There would be "vibrancy," but more important, "walkability."

Transportation issues could be more easily addressed with a more sensible and moderate scale of development, but that is a whole other subject. Equally important, there would then be public and private money available to address the revitalization of the areas of Columbia and Howard County outside of downtown Columbia, also a whole other subject.

All of this would be good news for Howard County taxpayers and Columbia annual charge payers.

Barbara Russell is a longtime Columbia resident and activist, and a former member of the Columbia Association's board of directors.