Old Town Bowie trades antiques for innovation with crafty rebrand

Once upon a time, Old Town Bowie was a railroad hub. But nowadays, the trains speed right on by, just like most of the people who drive through there.

While Bowie, along with the rest of the D.C. region, has grown exponentially in recent years, Old Town Bowie has not.

In fact, in that part of the Maryland town, the emphasis is on “the old.” There’s a few antique shops along the brick sidewalks, and not much else. There once was a sit-down restaurant, but it’s since been closed.

But after years of talk, and numerous community surveys, is the town on the cusp of creating something new?

This weekend, a rebranding of Old Town Bowie is launching called “Crafted In Bowie.” The goal is to transform that part of town the same way other towns around the region have seen their railroad adjacent and historical neighborhoods transformed.

“It’s just an energy that’s needed to be revitalized here,” said Mark Lawrence, president of Inncuvate Community Development Partners. “So when you walk around, you see storefronts, you see a lot of parks and amenities, but it’s just really an untapped gem in Bowie.”

The area in question is only a few blocks, divided by some railroad tracks used by Amtrak, MARC and freight rail. A bridge that has a sidewalk that isn’t exactly pedestrian friendly crosses over those tracks, and it doesn’t have that downtown feel you might get when visiting Annapolis or Frederick. Instead, the idea is to turn that part of town into what’s considered a “maker district.”

“Things that are locally made here, sourced here, but also creating a new sense of community pride,” Lawrence said. “So anything from small scale arts and crafts, manufacturing, to food. We eventually want to get to the emerging tech sort of manufacturing, leveraging all the anchors and all the activity that’s going on in the city of Bowie.”

Right now, seven properties are being eyed to begin this transformation. One of the old antique stores is envisioned as a new creative hub called The Foundry, which will be used by artists and craftsmen. Another building could become a shared commercial kitchen — The Stove House — where a handful of food trucks or other chefs can do prep work.

Lawrence hopes to have both up and running a year from now. More immediately, new murals that pay homage to the history of Old Town Bowie are being developed.

“We know there’s a lot of local entrepreneurs that are crafting and making stuff at home, in their garages,” he said. “We’re trying to create the innovation co-working in shared spaces to get them out of that. And again, as their businesses grow, they will take up some of these storefronts.”

Old Town Bowie is only about a mile from Bowie State University, if you follow the train tracks. A path along those tracks doesn’t exist though, but with new development under construction on the campus, the hope is that will change.

It would also help Old Town Bowie take advantage of some of the STEM education happening at Bowie State.

Lawrence said they are also connecting with other Makerspace programs around the state.

“We’ve done some feasibility studies. We talked to the community members, we talked to the entrepreneurs,” he said. “That’s what they call for. Not necessarily retail, but cafes, coffee shops, where they can see where the coffee is ground, and they can also purchase a cup of coffee. Food always came up.”

Those who create will then sell their work at a series of pop-up markets and events held in the spaces there.

“Events drive culture, drives community, and if we want to transform this area, that’s what we need to do,” he said.

“There’s lessons learned from Hyattsville. There’s lessons learned from Kensington, Maryland … and other areas — older railroad towns, antique towns,” Lawrence added. “They have that walkable vibe. They just need an industry, an economy that fits the neighborhood to keep it viable.”

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