That's pretty funny that they pay a security company to monitor the grounds, they better ask for a refund cause we are up there pretty much every week walking the river and trails and have never seen security back there. We always park in the parking lot and cut down the long driveway to get to the area where the old damn used to be, we pass lots of people. I would like to see it stay because it's a part of Catonsville and it gives shelter to people who can't find anywhere else to live. But I've walked through there and it is dangerous. If you don't watch your step in some places you will fall straight through to the basement. That place always looks the same, it doesn't appear to have been cleaned up since the original fire. When you climb up on the platform next to the dumpster where the big pond/parking lot is there is a small office with tons of old invoices that have been there since the place was running. That's a simple clean up, but we see the same invoices week after week and so on for years!

There was security at Simkins until about a year and a half ago. I saw them there on a regular basis in their clearly marked white vehicle and uniforms. The one security guy would warn people not to park along the road on the Howard County side as this was a favorite site for the HoCo Police to write parking tickets. Since the security company has gone, there is a marked increase in the number of people going into the dangerous building. I agree with Mark, a dangerous building for the homeless is not a good reason for it to stay.
Patch should also be doing a story on the removal of Bloede Dam, a historical structure, that once removed will dump TONS of silt into the river that will take more than 20 years to travel to the bay. The recent removal of the upper dams has dumped even more tonage of silt behind the Bloede Dam. There are now "silt islands" from the silt which was behind the smaller, removed dams.

Develop it? Into what? It is right in the floodplain along the river. I would hate to see the issurance bill for that. It will be under water during most major storms.

The park area is very popular. I'd like to see parking for park visitors. As it is now most parking areas(what little there is)is illegal. Parking on the road is dangerous. Forget bringing anyone in a wheelchair. It's impossible.

I drive by this place every day coming and going to work, and it is an eyesore. It's a giant accident waiting to happen with the number of people that go down there all the time. I would like to see River Road widened a little, as it is a tight squeeze for two normal cars to get through not to mention trucks. As for where the mill is, it would be a great spot for a dirt parking area with signage explaining the history of the area to those who wish to visit.

I would love to own this property and build 3-4 luxury homes overlooking the beautiful Patapsco River at the junction of the extended hiking biking trails from the city to the western and northern counties. That would preserve the land mostly as returning to mostly natural after the removal of the dams. I don't know why the 3-4 home could not use hydro from the river for electric! Or even more home nearby on the same grid. THAT would be visionary.

The property is an eyesore as well as a menace - both for public safety as well as the environment. Raze it.

20 years is a mere blink of an eye to a river - with the dam gone the river will soon revert to its natural state... even if "soon" seems like a long time to us short lived humans.

I have lived here 70 years so sad to see what this has become

The River Road/park/Simkins mill area is attracting crime, vandalism, and dangerous individuals and it NEEDs to be high priority for the county and Simkins to secure and clean up. PLEASE. I pay loads of property taxes and I'm begging you to please please secure this area so I don't have to be afraid to go out of my front door at night.