BALTIMORE — A new public park in the Baltimore Peninsula development is being named "Elijah's Park," in honor of the late U.S. Congressman Elijah Cummings.
The 28,000-square-foot park in south Baltimore features a playground designed by "iconic Danish playground maker" MONSTRUM, as well as a sculptural pavilion structure, large oval lawn, trees and native plants, and a mosaic inspired by the "Black Lives Matter" movement.
The former congressman's oldest daughter, Jennifer Cummings, said in a statement:
Elijah's Park is a living memorial and a beautiful tribute to my father's legacy. My Dad would often say of his work, 'this is bigger than me,' and this park is exactly that, a large public greenspace for the community to make productive use of and enjoy. It fills me with great joy to know that his impact will be remembered by all those who visit the park, and I am grateful to the Baltimore Peninsula team and the City of Baltimore for commemorating his dedication to and representation of the city he loved so deeply.
The "Black Lives Matter" mosaic was designed by teens in The Choice Program at UMBC, which works with young people in the juvenile justice system to help them thrive.
Students in the program create a mosaic every spring break. The program uses office space at Baltimore Peninsula's Impact Village. This new mosaic was a partnership with teaching artist Carien Quiroga and was created at Baltimore Peninsula's Impact Village, where The Choice Program uses office space.
The mosaic includes a quote from Cummings: “Our children are the living messengers we send to a future we will never see…so, we want to send them to that future healthy, strong, vibrant, and with their destinies in their own control.”
The mosaic is finished but has not been installed yet, said a Baltimore Peninsula spokesperson.
"Elijah's Park" is the second major homage to the Congressman in recent days in Baltimore. Morgan State University announced earlier this month that it has acquired a large personal collection of Cummings' papers, artwork and other effects, and is working to digitize his constituent letters.
Cummings was a Maryland state delegate for 14 years in the 1980s and 1990s, then represented Maryland's 7th Congressional district in the U.S. Congress from 1996 until his death in 2019. The prominent civil rights leader grew up in Baltimore, chaired Maryland's Legislative Black Caucus, and became the first African-American in Maryland to be named Speaker Pro Tempore in the state's House of Delegates.
