Governor Hogan and The Board of Public Works jointly announced Wednesday that the state will fund community and city projects in Baltimore City.
The Board of Public Works has unanimously voted to provide $7.6 million to help fund Playground and Parks projects in Baltimore. The $7.6 million sum will be used towards 11 different projects across the city, from improving the city’s park system to building playgrounds and athletic fields, much of the city will be impacted. The Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks will assist in the completion of the projects, many of which will also help to make parks, playgrounds and buildings handicap accessible in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s guidelines.
Parks and Facilities Receiving Funding
The
largest portion of the $7.6 million award go towards a project at the Cahill Fitness and Wellness Center with $2.4 million being used to build a brand new center in the Gywnns Falls area. $1.5 million will be put into the Citywide Park System, approximately $770,000 will be used to renovate the Druid Hill Park Reptile Center and $750,000 will go towards the renovation of the Gwynns Falls Maintenance Yard. A playground will be built in Violetville Park while improvements will be made to Clifton Park, Herring Run Park and Patterson Park. Athletic Fields will be built using $300,000 of the total award in Gwynns Falls Park while $200,000 will be used to make improvements to the Frederic B. Leidig Recreation Center.
The projects that gained funding were part of a series of items set forth by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the approved funding will come from the Department’s
Program Open Space,
Community Parks and Playgrounds Program as well as a Baltimore Direct City Grant. In addition to the specified main goal of the projects, many of the parks’ amenities will be enhanced while existing sites will be linked with trails and other recreation sites to benefit the citizens and community of the localized project areas in an environmentally friendly way.
