Washington officials will push forward with plans to build a 40-acre juvenile detention center to replace the troubled Oak Hill facility despite two Maryland lawmakers proposing legislation to relocate the facility within the District’s borders.

In an agreement reached between Democrats Sen. Ben Cardin and D.C. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the parties will continue down opposite paths regarding the new detention center but compromise on the fate of the remaining 848 acres of federally owned land near Fort Meade, according to a statement released by Cardin’s office Friday.

Under a 1929 federal land grant, the District controls the land. Oak Hill was built in 1967, but in the intervening years, the facility has struggled with violence, escapes and drug use, prompting Maryland officials to try to steer it out of the state.

A spokeswoman for Cardin, who has pressed the issue since he was a congressman representing the 3rd District, said the agreement was a success, despite the deadlock on the detention center itself.

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“The important thing is that they’re moving forward with the land,” Cardin spokeswoman Susan Sullam said.

A bill introduced by Cardin and co-sponsored by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., would push Oak Hill off the land and divide it between the National Security Agency and the county. Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Md., has introduced a corresponding bill in the House. A spokeswoman for D.C. Mayor Adrien Fenty said the mayor has always been happy to divide the land between the NSA and Anne Arundel County.

“We’re looking forward to moving ahead with construction at Oak Hill,” Mafara Hobson said.

The issue was revived in late April, when D.C. officials told Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold, Sarbanes, Cardin’s chief of staff and members of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s staff that construction was set to begin on a new facility.

jpalazzolo@baltimoreexaminer.com