Theodosia Myers and Blanche Jones-Hall take a walk in Druid Hill Park at least twice a week or sit on one of the benches and read. They enjoy the fresh air and seeing the seasonal changes as they trek along the paths with their walking sticks.
But they’ve noticed changes at the park, and know even more are coming, and wonder if what’s happening will be for all of Baltimore — especially lifelong residents like them who live nearby.
“As long as it’s inclusive, it will be fine,” Jones-Hall said. There is one proposal she is looking forward to: “I am excited about the amphitheater. Would love to go somewhere close to home for shows.”
The construction Myers and Jones-Hall see on their walks is part of the Department of Public Works’ Druid Lake Tanks project, designed to meet federal guidelines to secure the city’s water supply by covering much of Druid Lake and installing two large underground water tanks. Its completion, expected in early 2024, means another project with never-before-seen amenities can begin — the Druid Lake Vision Plan. The vision plan includes a bridge across the water, a fishing pier, shorelines, an amphitheater, a swimming area, cafe and a boathouse. It’s the first major redesign of Druid Hill Park in many years, according to Baltimore City Recreation and Parks.
Unknown Studio, the on-call design consultant for Baltimore City Recreation and Parks, came up with the design with the parks department after the tank project created the opportunity to use the water recreationally. The federal regulations require finished drinking water to either be covered or to receive additional treatment. The man-made reservoir at Druid Hill Park, containing over 400 million gallons of drinking water, supplies water to city and Baltimore County costumers.
“This is an opportunity to create recreation in what was a sterile bathtub,” said Adam Boarman, the parks department’s chief of capital development and planning.
Druid Hill Park Partnership is hosting an event providing an opportunity for the public to learn more about the plans Thursday at the park’s Mansion House. State and local leaders will gather to present and discuss the proposed designs for what is being called an unprecedented level of investment in America’s third-oldest established park.
Already people are forming opinions about what they would like to see.
Joe Perry, 63, runs in the park almost every day — a morning routine for him and his brothers since 1975. Perry remembers sneaking over to the park with friends and relatives to ride bikes down what they called “Dead Man’s Curve,” a steep road on the back hills of the park only the most courageous would attempt. The park has always been a “safe haven” for him and his family, Perry said, and aside from more restrooms and trees, he doesn’t think the park needs any major renovations or additions.
Graham Coreil-Allen, a public artist and president of the New Auchentoroly Terrace Association, said the end of the reservoir project will be a relief because it caused a loss of green space. Before construction, the lake had a 1.5 mile walking loop around it. Myers and Jones-Hall said they’d walk the loop daily during summertime. Once the tanks project is completed, the area atop of it will provide 14 acres of space in the park.
Boarman said there’s still a long way to go with the vision plan, and the city is only in the schematic design phase of the project, which will cost at least $50 million, including $17 million in state grant funding.
Nick Glase, principal of Unknown Studio, said the plan is to hopefully break ground in 2024. The Druid Lake Vision Plan, Glase said, is the design studio’s biggest project yet in Baltimore and it will need to roll out in phases. The firm will also further engage with the community to find out what they would like to see in a park.
Frank Lance, President and CEO of the Parks and People Foundation, said the organization has been present for parts of the planning process and some of the outreach. Community feedback largely fell into two categories, he said: people who are worried the completed plans will cause displacement and leave legacy residents feeling unwelcome, and people who are excited about the project’s possibilities.
Ronald Williams, an Auchentoroly Terrace resident and block captain, doesn’t think the proposed plans are geared toward Black communities. He loves the park, and as someone who is living in his great grandmother’s house, he’s seen changes over the years — like people being pushed out of the neighborhood because they can no longer afford it.
“These renovations are not for us,” Williams said.
Lance said he is disheartened by the connotation of gentrification, which he says implies a different racial group is needed to make a community better and more appealing. But that perception of gentrification, he said, is based on history.
“What I’m hoping happens here is that there’s a concerted effort to say that Druid Hill Park is for all of Baltimore,” Lance said. He also suggested dispersing intentional artifacts throughout the park so history is uplifted and not erased or assimilated.
Slaves worked on the land that is now Druid Hill Park before it was established as a city park in 1860.
Williams wants to see more programming in the park that complements the neighborhood and more cameras and lights to make people feel safer. Older people and kids also need a safer way to access the park on busy Druid Park Lake Drive.
Coreil-Allen said residents continue to work together on improving access to the park and, like Williams, they worry about Druid Park Lake Drive for those walking or biking. In 2020, the city’s Department of Transportation started a study and concept design for Druid Park Lake Drive, a four-to-nine-lane road with high-speed traffic. The Department of Transportation is currently seeking funding to complete the project, which is estimated to cost at least $32 million, according to the agency’s website.
“I love the fact that all these agencies are working together … there’s a greater impact when that happens,” Boarman said.
