Evening star., 1948-10-11
Owner Plans New Industries
For Livinq Christmas Town
'Sonto' Helm Expects
. To Spend Millions
In Savage Area
By StonIey Boitz
Stnr Stnkf Tarraanandank

SAVAGE, Md, Oct. Hilary
Helm, wealthy Baltimorean, who
bought this town recently, said. to-
day he expects to boost its popula-
ton from 1,l0o to 5000 in a year
He expects to do it, he said, by q
program Of industrial expansion
which would lure workers and their
families here. The first move in
that direction came recently with
the sale of tract to the Standard
Oil Co., which will invest about
500, 900 in a gas bottling plant at
this town, 81 miles north of Wash
ington, just of the Baltimore
boulevard.
His next move is to bring his own
plant, which manufactures Christ
mas tree decorations, to capacity
production. His plant was moved
from Baltimore and began opera
tions here soon after Mr.. Helm
took title to the town on August
%. Many of his 300 employees still
commute to Baltimore and a few to
Washington. To accommodate these
workers, Mr.. Helm is renovating
many Of the old houses here and
planning to build others. One of
the houses will be made into a
boarding house for women, another
will be made into an inn.
Seeks Other Toy Plants.
In line with his plan to make this
the Christmas show town of the
country, he is negotiating with toy
manufacturers to bring several
plants into the town. His own plant,
he said, would soon embark on some
minor toy making.
We're going to make this the
toy center of America" he said.
"We've got enough space and facili-
ties to carry three c. four toy plants
and we've begun talking to people
about it. We could work out power
ard rail facilities and lease or sell
the land. Nothing is definite yet,
but we expect things to jell soon.
Labor, of course, is a problem.
We could draw on Laurel and Glen
Burnie, and get some from WASH
ington and Baltimore. We've al
ready had calls from people in
Washington and Baltimore who
want to live here. The first thing
we've got to do, the way I see it,
is to build up Savage-get plenty
of housing and get our own plant
well settled. The faster we build
the better of we're going to be-"
He revealed also that he had been
requested by the BIO Railroad to
reserve part Of his land for in
dustrial development. A spur of
the B&O goes into Savage.
To Call in Townsfolk.
One of the first things on Mr..
Helms agenda is to call a meeting
of the townsfolk to get some SEM
blance of local government.
Another thing on his list is to
change the name of the town. He
himself refers to it as Santa Helm
Heim means home in German,
therefore, "Santa's HomeD. The
local athletic field alongside the
Baltimore boulevard is already called
the Santa Helm Ball Park.
Meanwhile, Mr.. Helm, who arrived
here last week for the first time
since he took title to the property,
prepared to settle here and build a
home. He outlined glowing plans
for the future of the village and
grew enthusiastic as he talked about
making this into a living Christmas
village with white houses, evergreen
trees, landscaping, parks a lake,
recreation areas, gardens, and even
miniature farm, complete with live
reindeer.
Before get through it will cost
me 5 or 6 million dollars" he said.
During Christmas season the area
would be lighted and an amplifter
system would send carols echoing
through the town. Another project
Is to build a tower in the likeness OF