Furry companions and their owners in Baltimore’s downtown are getting a not-so-new, but improved, hang-out spot.

New renderings of the Liberty Dog Run from the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore show an attempt at attracting more visitors to the struggling city center. The plan features a large expansion that would change the traffic pattern and introduce a public restroom, retail booth, shaded areas and a security hub.

It’s a huge change from the current setup of mainly dirt and patches of grass with a few trees on each end. The nonprofit’s vision, according to a presentation, “breathes new life” with more square footage, greenery and new features.

“We maintain that area, but what we’re talking about doing now is expanding that run, closing down part of a street and creating a park space that is for big dogs, little dogs and people to really maximize and create activity downtown,” said Shelonda Stokes, president of Downtown Partnership of Baltimore.

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The nonprofit’s timeline for completing this project means residents won’t see the finished product until spring 2027 because they’re still in the design phase. Before moving on to the next steps, they’re seeking feedback on the design and asking the community for assistance in renaming the park at a community meeting on July 24.

“Throughout the process, we wanted to make sure we were hearing all voices,” Stokes said, adding that they’ve looked at other dog parks for inspiration and spoken to dog owners to take their ideas into consideration for the design.

Digital renderings from the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore show potential plans for Liberty Dog Run across the street from CFG Bank Arena. (Handout)

Downtown Partnership took over what is currently Liberty Dog Run, located between North Liberty Street and Park Avenue downtown, in the 1990s and transformed it from a traffic median to a dog run in 2010.

Stokes said she doesn’t have exact data on how many dogs are in Baltimore, but that it feels like there are as many pets as people.

And with the CFG Bank Arena mere feet away, she said attendees increase the number of people coming downtown, which makes an appealing dog park more necessary.

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Downtown Partnership, the mayor’s office, and the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore requested a study from the Urban Land Institute, an urban planning nonprofit, to look at areas for improvement throughout downtown in 2022. The Urban Land Institute made many recommendations for Baltimore’s downtown, including making better use of existing public open spaces.

Stokes said the Liberty Dog Run and its surrounding space are a great opportunity for doing so.

Digital renderings from the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore show potential plans for Liberty Dog Run across the street from CFG Bank Arena. (Handout)

The State of Maryland provided Downtown Partnership $10 million in 2022 to support projects outlined in the Urban Land Institute’s study. Of that, $4 million will be used specifically for the redesign of Liberty Dog Run.

In Downtown Partnership’s request for proposal for a landscape architect and design team in April, the organization said it wanted to create an open space that could also support gatherings, events, food trucks and feature a security hub for safety.

Digital renderings from the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore show potential plans for Liberty Dog Run across the street from CFG Bank Arena. (Handout)

The Baltimore-based landscape architecture firm, Mahan Rykiel Associates Inc., created the working concept plans. The firm was involved in other projects in Maryland, including the Merriweather District, the Annapolis Towne Center and Baltimore’s upcoming Red Line.