Cab Calloway Greening Baltimore
LAST WEEK, I had the pleasure of participating in a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Cab Calloway Legends Park. The event represented the firstfruits of years of tireless advocacy by the Druid Heights community. Thanks to a grant of the Chesapeake Bay Trust, construction crews have begun to remove abandoned driveways and alleys, greening the heart of the future park and improving the health of the watershed.
Construction Begins
The new Cab Calloway Legends Park will be part of Baltimore’s park system and will focus on a central lawn designed to host concerts, jazz festivals, poetry readings and community events. The lawn will be flanked by a promenade beneath rows of elm trees. Beneath the elms, soft aggregate paving will accommodate strolling and wheelchairs as well as art shows, craft fairs and farmers markets. North of the lawn will be a gentle knoll and a grove of cherry trees. And to the west, the existing play area will be renovated and expanded with rubber safety-surfacing and given an immersive planted frame for promoting nature-play. The park, in name and in graphic identity, celebrates the legacy and contribution of neighborhood legends such as jazz musicians Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday and Ethel Ennis and noteworthy public servants including Justice Thurgood Marshall and Congressman Elijah Cummings.
Check out our photos from the ceremony as well as some images representing proposed design features.
We are honored to be working with Baltimore City Recreation and Parks and their insightful partners on this project and also proud to be leading a talented design team:
CLIENT AND KEY STAKEHOLDERS
City of Baltimore, Recreation and Parks, Capital Projects (Client)
City of Baltimore, Department of Planning (Partner)
Druid Heights Community Development Corporation (Community partner)
Chesapeake Bay Trust (Watershed assistance partner)
CONSULTANTS
Jonathan Ceci Landscape Architects
(Prime Consultant, Landscape Architect, Environmental Graphic Design)
Design Collective Inc. (Landscape Master Plan, design partner)
MK Consulting (Civil Engineering for new park)
CityScape Engineering (Civil Engineering for CBT Watershed Grant-funded work)
Columbia Engineering Inc. (Structural Engineer)
KES Engineering (Electrical Engineer)
EBA Engineering (Environmental Engineering)
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