The first one I heard about was Ladder 49, with John Travolta in it. But the scenes shot there did not have Travolta in them. Supposedly, the old hospital morgue was what they needed. I think for a dead fireman part of the script.
Local photographer J.W. tells me that The Wire also filmed several scenes at Ft. Howard. One scene was in the chapel area, another was on the grounds. In the clip below from The Wire, you can see the lighthouse off Ft. Howard and the old steel mill across the water.
The long running, Baltimore based, Homicide Life On The Streets TV crew were a regular there. One day, after I had been to a doctor in the VA clinic, I walked up to two crew members loading movie lights, power cords, etc. into the back of their truck. We chatted for awhile, and they said there are certain aspects of the rooms they used for sound stages that make them excellent sound stages.
Another time I went to a medical appointment at the Ft. Howard clinic and saw several large white canopies set up, on a side parking lot area, tents that caterers use for outdoor feasts. Then I drove around to the clinic and saw a woman sitting in the driver's seat of a van - the kind caterers use to deliver food, tables and all to feasts. She was across the parking lot from the clinic, where it was unlikely someone would wait for a relative or friend to finish their doctor appointment. After mine, I walked over, told her I figured she was there to cater for a film crew, she acknowledge it to be true, and I said, "You're probably not allowed to tell anyone, I'll understand if you can't, but can you say who is coming to film what upcoming movie or TV footage?" She said no, she cannot say who is coming, and I let her be.
Some months later, I was there again for a doctor's appointment. Afterwards, as I was driving back out, Ft. Howard Development, LLC owner Tim Munshell was taking a walk on the grounds. He probably didn't have anything else to do, but had to be at Ft. Howard a lot making it look like he was doing some good work on his development project there. I told him how much I want to see his project get going good and strong, just at about a 400 living unit max not the unreasonable 1,400 he and the former developer - John Infantino - pushed for.
When I mentioned Infantino, Munshell became defensive on Infantino's side, and said, "John would have gotten it going except the county government and local community would not cooperate and allow him to do what needs to be done."
Munshell's voice and body language indicated he knew Infantino. So I asked, and Munshell said, emphatically, " Yes I know him."
Long before that, I had come to the conclusion they know each other, because they are separately written about online in news articles and public meeting reports as being involved in, or competing for, several of the same projects. None of which came to fruition.
Then Munshell and I spoke about the movie and TV production crews. I asked him who got the money paid by film production companies to use Ft. Howard, and what is it being used for. Lots of people around town are known to have made money renting their house or whatever for a day or two of filming. Munshell said, "They didn't pay anything."
Really!?!
THE VA IS ALWAYS SOMEWHAT SHORT OF FUNDING, which is why they want to lease out all of Ft. Howard to a developer, AND THE VA ALLOWS BIG MONEY FILM COMPANIES TO USE THE FT. HOWARD VA FOR FREE?
I just don't know how to find out, who to contact, where to research for the verified answer of yes or no the VA did or did not allow them use of it for free.
The photo is of Munshell (right side) and (probably) his employee or some kind of business partner, taking a stroll on the VA grounds.
Photography by David Robert Crews {a.k.a. ursusdave}
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