BALTIMORE — In west Baltimore a neighborhood park is receiving some upgrades but it’s different than the initial plans that were proposed.
It’s a greenspace sitting on 7.4 acres of land in the heart of West Baltimore right across from Carver VoTech High School.
Initially parks and recreations said a new skate park would be configured along with other improvements to the space, now that’s been put on hold for some other renovations.
A new playground, new walkways and other recreational outlets are all proposed in the new plan, making it less of an eye sore and more enjoyable for people to use.
“Steps on that end and steps on that end have all been placed here probably in 1910 or 1920, they are deteriorating they need to be addressed,” Cypress said.
Zanes Cypress who runs the Omega Baltimore foundation at the Easterwood Recreation Center where the park sits said there are major issues with the foundation of the park.
“ There are only two swings that are operative and the ground the turf needs to be repaired,” Cypress said.
It’s just the beginning of the problems that need to be fixed at the park with 7.4 acres of land in the heart of West Baltimore.
The park was built in 1910 and Cypress said the last repair on the park was a basketball court almost 10 years ago.
“ Everything is a hodgepodge no massive repairs, that’s unacceptable in this area,” Cypress said.
Things like broken sidewalks, a new playground and the fence that encloses the park just scratch the surface of the investment that are set to be made there.
“ I graduated 17 years ago from Carver Vo Tech and as a person who serves in city government now as an elected official this park looks the same exactly as it is 17 years ago,” Torrence said.
James Torrence who’s the councilman of District 7 where the park sits said it’s the safety issues that need to be addressed first.
“ So we need to bring up to ADA accommodations to make sure that we’re addressing the needs of the community,” Torrence said.
Originally people were told there would be a skate park configured inside the park and organizers said that’s still part of the multilayered plan, but the more important repairs are priority.
“ It means that we’re just responding to what the community members asked us to have prior to a skate park,” Torrence said.
Something organizers and neighbors like Darlene Cain are anxious for.
“ We’re gonna be excited because everything‘s gonna be up-to-date up to par. We can come out here and exercise we can walk ride our bikes New courts new football fields it’s just gonna be amazing,” Cain said.
WMAR 2 news asked about a timeline for all these upgrades to be completed however, organizers said they don’t have one at this time.
