New Exhibit in Columbia Chronicles How City Was Planned

Columbia is a planned community, but what did the plans look like? That’s what a new exhibit presented by the Columbia Association aims to show.

“Columbia It Is! The Plan Revealed” opened this week at the Columbia Archives, showcasing what more than 80 professionals came up when they collaborated to create a place containing “the best of cities and the best of suburbs,” Barbara Kellner, director of the Columbia Archives, told WBAL.

Maps, diagrams, sketches, letters and press coverage are on display at the exhibit, which details a yearlong planning process that culminated in 1964.

The Nov. 11 grand opening of “Columbia It Is! The Plan Revealed” coincided with the day 50 years ago when Columbia’s founder James Rouse presented plans for the city to Howard County officials and residents, according to the Columbia Association.

The exhibit is one of several installments paying tribute to Columbia’s history in advance of its 50-year anniversary in 2017, according to the Business Monthly, which reported that the Columbia Association plans to celebrate everything from the initial land purchase in 1962 to the first homeowners moving into Wilde Lake in 1967.

The Howard County executive and council proclaimed November “Columbia It Is” Month in recognition of the presentation of Rouse’s plans for Columbia on Nov. 11, 1964.

The exhibit “Columbia It Is! The Plan Revealed” opened Tuesday, Nov. 11, and will remain on display until May 2015. See it at the Columbia Archives at 10227 Wincopin Circle in Columbia, which is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It’s free and open to the public.

Screenshot from YouTube video by Columbia Association.