BALTIMORE — Some new improvements are coming to Mondawmin Mall in west Baltimore, and it’s left the community eager about what they have to look forward to.
In 2018, the store formerly known as Target inside Mondawmin Mall closed its doors. The space will now be aimed to help revitalize the mall and the historic community surrounding it in west Baltimore.
Fast forward five years later and now community leaders like Tim Regan, who’s the CEO of Whiting Turner, are bringing their vision for the space being an empowerment center to life.
“You know years ago when I saw this property come available, I just thought well wouldn’t that be something if we could jump in and just impact the community in such a bigger way, because it’s a large building 127 thousand square feet and it sits on 8.3 acres,” Regan said.
Regan purchased the building with a mission to create an active hub to help revitalize the Mondawmin Mall and the historic West Baltimore neighborhood with economic opportunity and inclusion remaining the focus.
“We’re hoping to create some retail opportunities for local entrepreneurs Who can perhaps stand up some food businesses and maybe some shops. Also some workforce development uses in conjunction with Joe Jones and the center for urban families. Another fun idea that we have and we’re talking to Adalyn in the community about is perhaps a catering event space along with a teaching kitchen where we can kind of ramp folks up into the catering and food service business,” Regan said.
That’s just a fraction of what’s projected. It's something families say is needed in the area.
“To see it deteriorate, you really feel it if you’ve been around for a long time," said Ruthie Wilder. "There are going to be jobs there’s going to be a clean-up of the community."
And community leaders like Jermaine Skinner, who’s the assistant principal of Frederick Douglas High School, said he agrees, and he’s looking forward to how it will help shape future generations.
“It’s going to give them the opportunity to redefine their future and let them know that it’s okay to do great things in your community, but also have an opportunity to expand their thinking and being able to show what the great things this community has to offer,” Skinner said.
With a long history of violence in West Baltimore, organizers behind this plan said they want this empowerment center to be a positive hub helping to nurture the talent in the neighborhood and ultimately helping to reshape the future of the Mondawmin community.
“ Having been one of the epicenters of the unrest after the funeral of Freddie gray there’s some you know uncomfortable images of those days, so we thought that really immersing ourselves in the Mondawmin Community and creating that story of rebirth and new excitement would be a powerful story for Baltimore,” Regan said.
Community organizers in the area are all in alignment with this plan and they are the ones helping to shape what businesses will be inside of the empowerment center.
If you live in the Mondawmin community or the surrounding areas and want to be part of shaping the new empowerment center contact your community leaders who’re largely invested in this movement.
