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Officials with the National Park Service are still asking for comments from the public on their proposal to beef up the offerings at the Monocacy National Battlefield in Frederick.

They presented to the public last week their plan that would govern the historic park for the next 20 years.

The plan has four alternatives: one that offers no changes to the battlefield beyond what is already planned, and three that offer varying levels of change.

Park officials prefer the alternative that includes the most change: expanding several buildings to include classrooms, moving administrative offices, and adding parking and improved entrances to key areas.

This alternative also includes a pedestrian walkway over Interstate 270, which bisects the park, so people could more easily visit the Worthington House. The house played an important role in public knowledge of the battle, according to Trail.

Glenn Worthington, 6 years old at the time of the battle, observed the fighting from his family's cellar and grew up to write "Fighting for Time," the first book-length, eyewitness account of the battle, Trail said.

Worthington also lobbied for the legislation that defined the boundaries of the park in 1934. However, Congress did not set aside any money to buy the farms that make up the park from their owners until the 1980s.

Park officials have been working with Craig Cellar, a planner with the National Park Service, to develop the plan since 2002. "This is a vision for the future," Cellar said. "Until Congress funds it, it's just a wish list."

Many historians consider the Battle of Monocacy, which occurred in September 1864, to be the battle that saved Washington, D.C. during the Civil War.

Union troops were able to delay Confederate troops long enough during the battle to allow reinforcements to make it to Washington, D.C.

To see the plan and submit comments, visit www.nps.gov/mono.

Park Superintendent Susan Trail did not return calls for comment by The Gazette's deadline on how many people showed for the meetings or on how many people had sent in e-mails for comment.

Turning Point loses

King Floor Service

Turning Point Center looks a little bit empty without King Floor Service.

Residents who drive past the center at the intersection of Md. routes 80 and 355 may notice that the storefront once occupied by the flooring company is vacant.

Charlie Seymour, the developer of the center, declined to comment on why the business chose to leave, but said that there would be three new businesses likely to open in the center in the coming months, including a pediatrician, a lacrosse store and a personal trainer.

He said that the pediatrician and personal trainer — Dynamic Fitness, owned and operated by Frederick County native and Linganore High graduate Charlie Dorsey Jr. — will be located on either side of Magnolia Day Spa, while the lacrosse store would probably locate where King Flooring was been. Seymour said it is important to him to have the perfect mix of businesses in the center, and while pizza places and other restaurants had lobbied for the position, he felt the lacrosse store was the best fit.

"It has to be the right kind of business," he said.

The Gazette's Construction Connection column addresses the community's questions and concerns regarding growth and development in southeastern Frederick County. The column is published twice each month in the New Market/Urbana edition. If you have any questions about growth that you want to see addressed in The Gazette, please call New Market/Urbana reporter Chris Brown at 301-846-2132, or e-mail chbrown@gazette.net.