community : Development News

The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is opening a community arts center in East Baltimore that will expand its graduate programs and hopefully boost its relationship with the community.

The school is spending $1.2 million to renovate the 24,000-square-foot building at 814 N. Collington Avenue, funding for which came from the Rouse Co. Foundation, the Wachovia Wells Fargo Foundation and an anonymous trustee. MICA expects the center, the former St. Wenceslaus School, to open mid-September.

Called MICA Place, the space will host graduate courses in community arts and social design and community meetings. It will also contain art studios, a computer laboratory, exhibition space and graduate apartments.

The center will allow students to use their art in a way that engages the community, says Ray Allen vice president of academic affairs and provost.

For instance, students pursuing a Master's in Community Arts might work with youth in East Baltimore to learn photography and use the art as a medium for reflecting on the issues facing the neighborhood, Allen says.

"I had it in my head that art and design could be put at the service of increasing the quality of life in the community," Allen says. "We can engage the community is a much richer way."

MICA has had a stake in East Baltimore for a decade, as part of a collaboration called the MICA/JHU Design coalition. Johns Hopkins University researchers tap the design expertise of MICA students to create graphics to deliver public health messages.

MICA is leasing the building from nonprofit East Baltimore Development Inc., the nonprofit that oversees the massive biotechnology park and residential development near Johns Hopkins Hospital.

"It's a wonderful building in East Baltimore," Allen says. "It will be a great place where people in the community can brought in."

Having a physical presence in the community will give MICA visibility and credibility, Allen hopes.

"This will give us community trust, that we're not some elitist outside organization visiting," he says.  "At the end of the day, education is our mission. Art is our vehicle for doing it."

Read more of Bmore's education coverage.

Source: Ray Allen, Maryland Institute College of Art
Writer: Julekha Dash

An artist-run gallery has moved into new space on the city's west side. Current Space opened its doors to the public at 421 N. Howard Street this month after nearly six years at 30 S. Calvert Street.

The new spot is conveniently located near the Light Rail, and restaurants in Mount Vernon, Current Co-director Monique Crabb says. "Downtown closed down at night. It's nice to be in an area where there's an audience around us."

It's also close to the Enoch Pratt Library and the artist warehouse the H&H building, the site of many art shows and music events.

"We're really excited about the location," Crabb says.

Current artists pay just utilities and property taxes �  about $6,000 a year � and is getting the space free of rent from the city. Downtown Partnership of Baltimore Inc. and the Baltimore Development Corporation helped the artists find the new space. The move highlights how the city is encouraging artists to move into areas with vacant buildings with the hopes that it will jumpstart development.

Eventually, the artists will have to move if a developer takes an interest in the area. "It's a win-win situation except we will be asked to leave," Crabb says.

Right now, the artists expect to stay in the space for at least a year and a half.

The gallery displays the work of photographers, printmakers and videographers whose work is not very commercial. Most of the work is not sellable, because the work includes videos and major installations.

"We don't target the audience looking to buy art work," Crabb says. "We wish we sold more stuff and make more money. It's more about including the artists' community but not so much in a commercial way."

Source: Monique Crabb, Current Space
Writer: Julekha Dash

Leaders at the Maryland Women's Heritage Center are scouting locations in Baltimore and Annapolis for a permanent home for its exhibits that highlight the Free State's leading ladies. The site pays homage to accomplished Maryland women in a Hall of Fame display. Featured women include biotech pioneer Claire Fraser-Liggett, Harriet Tubman, environmentalist and "Silent Spring" author Rachel Carson and jazz great Billie Holiday.

Center leaders expect to open a 25,000-square-foot center within two years, and need to raise $5 million to open a permanent building, Executive Director Jill Moss Greenberg says.  

The center opens its temporary home June 19 at 39 W. Lexington St. Located in the former Baltimore Gas & Electric Building, the initial space was donated by David Hillman, CEO of Southern Management Corporation. Greenberg says the board is looking at half a dozen sites in downtown Baltimore and is zeroing in on Baltimore and Annapolis with the hope that the locales can attract conference attendees and students on school trips.

The permanent location will host more interactive exhibits, a library, women's history archive, arts and crafts display, meeting space and gift shop with books and gifts made by Maryland women.

Center officials will launch a capital campaign this year."I know it's terrible timing because of the economy but we're at the point where we need to do so," she says.

The center has an operating budget of about $100,000 and gets its funding from the state, corporations, foundations and individuals. Entrance is free.


The Maryland Women's Heritage Center is an offshoot of the Maryland Women's History Project, collaboration between the Maryland Commission for Women and the Maryland State Department of Education.


Source: Jill Moss Greenberg, Maryland Women's Heritage Center
Writer: Julekha Dash

Beehive Baltimore, a nine-month old community for freelancers and entrepreneurs, is moving into larger digs at Canton's Emerging Technology Center June 1. At 1,700 square feet, the new spot at 2400 Boston St. is 50 percent larger than the old office. The new space gives the Beehive the capacity to accommodate up to 31 people a day.

"I had my eye on it from the beginning," says Dave Troy, the facility's administrator. But the space only became available mid-April.

Beehive's popularity is part of a larger movement known as coworking, or the idea that independent professionals work better together than alone in their basements. The concept of coworking is gaining popularity in many cities around the world, according to Troy. "So many people who are freelancers are working from home," he says.

Starting a business and working from home can be isolating and makes it difficult for folks to keep up to date on best practices.  It's also tough to hold meetings.  Having a central facility for freelancers and entrepreneurs makes it easier to team up with the right people, Troy says.

Take the Beatles, for instance. The band's magic came from having the right combination of talented musicians in a shared space.  Similarly, the best business ideas get unleashed with you have the right blend of people bouncing ideas off one another, Troy says.

Some freelancers work in a caf�, but in that space people don't get to interact. "In this environment, you have the opportunity to get to know each other over time," Troy says. "In a caf�, everyone is trying ot to leave each other alone."

A Beehive membership runs $175 a month to work three days per week and $275 per month for daily access. Members can also purchase a day pass for $25.

Beehive Baltimore holds about 75 people in its membership database and gets about eight to 10 freelancers each day.  The current space allows for a maximum of 15 people a day.

Readmore from our coverage of Canton!

Source: Dave Troy, Beehive Baltimore
Writer: Julekha Dash

The Y of Central Maryland is expanding a Carroll County facility to meet growing demand and is trying to sell another.

By the end of the year, the 24,000-square-foot health center at 1719 Sykesville Rd. in Westminster will expand by another 5,000 square feet.

To begin this summer, the expansion will likely include more family locker rooms, a larger children's play area and fitness center, the Y's Chief Marketing Officer Sara Milstein says. The Westminster Y will also add several multi-purpose rooms that can be used for group exercise classes, meetings and clubs.

"The renovation is very intentionally designed to encourage family and community interaction," Milstein says. Y officials envision their centers as being a place where people can interact with their neighbors and friends.
"In a hurried society where families are under so much stress, the old-fashioned town square doesn't exist anymore," Milstein says. "There's a recognition for a real need for people to connect and not just virtually. We're making the membership about more than fitness but about the spirit, mind and body."

Y officials plan to fund the expansion by using the proceeds from the sales of the building to the Powers Cos. The Y will then lease back the property from Powers for 25 years.

Milstein declined to say how much the Y is spending on the renovations and the building sale. The property is valued at about $2.7 million, according to state property records.

Organization leaders are also actively seeking a buyer for the Westminster Inn, which the Y purchased from the Maryland School for the Blind in 2007. Costs for renovating the historic building have been escalating and given the economic downturn, Y leaders decided it would be wise to sell it rather than spending more money on it, Milstein says.

When the renovation is completed, the Westminster Y will be renamed the Hill Family Center Y in recognition of longtime donors.
The Y of Central Maryland currently operates 11 centers in Baltimore City and Baltimore, Howard, Harford, Carroll and Howard counties.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source, Sara Milstein, Y of Central Maryland

The Enoch Pratt Free Library unveiled its brand spanking new Mobile Library Monday outside St. Ambrose School in Park Heights. The bright red van is a  new addition to the library's Bookmobile fleet.

This 28-foot state-of-the-art bookmobile is quite literally a mobile library, offering Baltimore residents many of the services they'd find at a brick-and-mortar branch. Visitors will be able to surf the Web using the public access computer and, of course, check out audio visual materials, periodicals, large print materials, and current bestsellers. The bookmobile will also include a number of books available in Russian and Spanish.

The new Mobile Library will visit areas of Baltimore that are not geographically close to a library. It will also regularly service senior centers, schools, Latino Relocation Centers, municipal buildings and the communities along Edmondson Avenue and Reisterstown Road where Pratt branches are closed for renovation.

"The Pratt Library is at the heart of every community in Baltimore and this new Mobile Library will bring valuable resources to our patrons," says Carla Hayden, Pratt Library CEO. "The Mobile Library is a modern and dynamic information center for the 21^st century. Our bookmobile service serves people of all backgrounds, providing access almost every service that patrons find in Pratt branches."

The Enoch Pratt Free Library's bookmobile fleet has a long history of serving and providing free library materials and programming to the citizens of Baltimore. In 1943, the Pratt's horse drawn "Book Cart Service was established to serve areas of the city that were not within walking distance of a Pratt Branch. It was later replaced in 1949 when the first Bookmobile began services to Baltimore City neighborhoods.

The Mobile Services provided by the Pratt Bookmobile are as popular and vital today as it was in its inception. According to a recently released report, nearly one-third of Americans, about 77 million people, used a public library computer or wireless network to access the internet in the past year.

The report, Opportunity for All: How the American Public Benefits from Internet Access at U.S. Libraries, is based on the first, large-scale study examining who uses public computers and Internet access in public libraries, the way library patrons use this free technology service, why they use it, and how it affects their lives. The Enoch Pratt Free Library was part of this national study and Pratt patrons were even interviewed in-person for the report, which was conducted by the University of Washington Information School and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

"We discovered that 30 percent of people in Baltimorehave no access to the Internet. So they rely on the library system and we take that responsibility seriously. The mobile library is like an extension of the library system and now it's evolving like the main library has itself," says Roswell Encino, Enoch Pratt Library spokesperson.

The Mobile Library was funded by contributions of The Rouse Company Foundation and The Jean and Sidney Silber Foundation.

Source: Roswell Encino, Enoch Pratt Free Library
Writer: Walaika Haskins

In an effort to help citizens fill out their Census questionnaires, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, joined by the Baltimore Hispanic Commission, community leaders, and Census staff opened one of the city's Census Questionnaire Assistance Centers (QAC). The QACs will assist residents in the completion of census questionnaires and offer language assistance. Questionnaire Assistance Centers will offer 59 different language assistance guides along with Braille and large print questionnaires.

"The faces of Baltimore continue to diversify, yet we know that our Hispanic community is historically undercounted," says Mayor Rawlings-Blake. "It is important that Baltimore and the Latino community not lose Census dollars because of language barriers and fear of government. What we do this year will have an impact on what we can do for the next decade. Together we must make sure that all Baltimoreans are counted on April first."

Mayor Rawlings-Blake stressed the privacy and security of the census and praised the efforts of organizations like CASA de Maryland to increase the return rate of Census questionnaires. Based on census track data, some households in Baltimore will receive bilingual forms. CASA de Maryland is assisting with questionnaires during their annual free tax return preparation.

The census count determines the allocation and distribution of over $4 trillion in federal funding over the next 10 years for school construction, housing and community development, road and transportation planning, job training and more. Census counts also determine the boundaries for state and local legislative districts. In Baltimore, the census helps determine the level of language assistance available in city agencies.

Language assistance in French, Russian, Chinese, Korean and Spanish (the city's five most spoken non-English languages) will be available at QACs throughout the city.

A complete list of QACs is available on the city's website, http://www.baltimorecity.gov/Government/AgenciesDepartments/Planning/2010Census/CensusHelp.aspx.

Assistance is also available by phone in:

• Spanish: 1-866-935-2010
• Korean: 1-866-955-2010
• Russian: 866-965-2010
• Chinese: 1-866-935-2010

Source: Baltimore City; U.S. Census Bureau
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Students at Waverly Elementary Middle School in Greater Homewood will have a brand spanking new, state-of-the-art, LEED-certified school building within the next three years, the Greater Homewood Community Corporation announced.

In the works since 2004, the new school building will replace two relics of the last century situated roughly one and a half blocks apart in which students have been housed for the past six years.

"For many, many years, the school was K through 5. Back in 2003 there was a decision made to keep middle schoolers who had been zoned for Roland Park, closer to the community. The school board added grades making Waverly K through 8. They realized quickly though that there wasn't enough room for the middle schoolers and wound up putting them in building that was about a block away from the elementary school. The old Venable vocational special ed building plus a really ancient portable became the middle school for Waverly," explains Karen DeCamp, director Neighborhood Programs at Greater Homewood Community Corporation.

After several years during which the city would submit requests for funds to build a new school for the neighborhood that the state repeatedly rejected, progress finally came in 2007 after Dr. Alonso Gates became head of the Baltimore City Public School System.

With his support and that of local councilwoman Mary Pat Clark, the city was finally able to submit a plan that the state eventually approved in 2008.

A culmination of years of advocacy and community action, this new building will not only move students out of a sub-standard facility, it will bring competitive academic programs to the school and provide Waverly, Oakenshawe, and Ednor Gardens-Lakeside families with a great public school option in their neighborhood, says DeCamp

The new building, designed by Grimm and Parker Architects, will include a green roof of low-growing succulents and other energy efficient technologies. The building will be constructed in two phases. The new building will be constructed on the field adjacent to the current school building. Students will be able to continue to attend classes in their current building with the elementary school demolished and add the remaining classrooms and a gymnasium once the main structure has been completed.

"For us this is a huge victory for the community. The middle-schoolers have toiled away in substandard circumstances that we think affects achievement and this is just a great victory," DeCamp says.

Source: Karen DeCamp, Greater Homewood Community Corporation
Writer: Walaika Haskins

The Bmore Media staff would like to thank all of our readers, Twitter followers and Facebook fans who came out to meet and mingle with us last Tuesday evening at Sam's Kid in Fells Point. We really enjoyed meeting you all and sharing why we all think Baltimore is one of America's best, if slightly underappreciated, cities.

A huge thanks to Andrea Rani, owner of Sam's Kid, for letting us host the Happy Hour event in one of Baltimore's best new restaurants.

For those of you who weren't able to make it this time, no worries! We'll be hosting another Happy Hour soon. So stay tuned for more details.


Thanks again!
The Bmore Media Crew

An apartment complex in Hanover is wrapping up construction on 270 units that will be added to the Elms at Stoney Run Village at the end of the month.

Marketers for the building are pitching the Elms' proximity to Arundel Mills mall and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Property Manager Cheryl Henley says. The complex at 7581 Stoney Run Dr. is about 75 percent full and will have a total of 386 apartments when construction is finished.

The Elms contains one, two and three-bedroom units. The price ranges from $1,340 for a one bedroom to $2,105 for a three bedroom. The sizes range from 830 to 1,650 square feet with amenities that include a swimming pool, fitness center and hiking trails.

Elm Street Development, the complex's McLean, Va., developer, picked the area because of the expected job growth in Anne Arundel County, Elm Street Project Manager Lauren Bower says.

"We chose the neighborhood because it is growing fast," Bower says. "A lot of people are moving to the area."

The Pentagon's Base Realignment and Closure plan, or BRAC, is expected to bring nearly 6,000 jobs to Fort George G. Meade in 2011.

Henley says the company likes Anne Arundel County's demographics. The county's population has grown nearly 5 percent between 2000 and 2008, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and it has a median household income of around $83,000.

Elm Street's other properties include the Eden, a 270-unit apartment building in Baltimore's Harbor East neighborhood.

Sources: Cheryl Henley, the Elms at Stoney Run Village; Lauren Bower, Elm Street Development
Writer: Julekha Dash

When Nicole Selhorst wanted to feed more hungry customers during the cold winter months last year, she didn't have the space to seat all of them at Red Canoe Bookstore Cafe.

But now she's got the space -- and new menu items and products -- to keep them longer at her Lauraville business. After a renovation, that is now in its final stages, Selhorst will seat twice as many patrons at the Lauraville business.

Selhorst added 20 more seats by merging the bookstore and cafe areas that had been in two adjacent rowhomes so seats are spread throughout the space. Patrons now also get more food options, with pizza and grilled sandwiches. Red Canoe now has a fireplace on the first floor to keep customers cozy inside during winter.

In an appeal to families, the bookstore and cafe now sells more childrens toys.  An expanded book selection includes more title that appeal to kids and young adults.

Selhorst has already been building up a fan base among families. In conjunction with Loyola University Maryland's radio station WLOY, Red Canoe hosts regular events that get children to read and write stories.
"We are able to really build up a community of families," Selhorst says. "I see us growing."

The bookstore is among a growing crop of small businesses that have sprouted in the Hamilton/Lauraville area. Selhorst praises the neighborhood's diversity and the fact that it has drawn a number of artists, authors and activists intent on making the area a better place to live.

"It's a wonderful, growing community," Selhorst says.

Source: Nicole Selhorst, Red Canoe Bookstore Cafe
Writer: Julekha Dash

The Y of Central Maryland will invest $500,000 to open a new facility in Parkville in June as part of a strategic plan to expand in Northern Baltimore County.

Located in the North Plaza Shopping Center, the facility will offer youth sports, swimming, water aerobics, martial arts, yoga, indoor cycling and exercise programs for children, seniors and adults. The new center will also offer community outreach programs for at-risk youth and raise money to aid those who cannot afford the Y's services.

Y officials decided to expand in Parkville after completing a strategic plan that identified Northern Baltimore County as an area that was underserved, says Sara Milstein, the Y of Central Maryland's chief marketing officer.

Last year, the organization opened a facility in Perry Hall. It also has a facility in Towson. The Y of Central Maryland operates pre-school and after-school programs and youth and adult sports in Northern Baltimore County. Having a cluster of family centers in one area makes it more convenient for people, Milstein says.
"Anytime we come into a neighborhood, the Y is the health and wellness anchor," Milstein says.

The nonprofit will be recruiting volunteers to mentor area youth. The Y of Central Maryland is one of seven Ys around the country that shared a $7 million federal grant to offer mentoring programs.
The Y of Central Maryland operates eight health and wellness centers in Baltimore City and Baltimore, Howard, Harford and Howard counties.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Sara Milstein, Y of Central Maryland

A new PNC branch location has opened its doors and vault for customer deposits in downtown Baltimore. Located at 426 W. Baltimore Street, the branch is another example of PNC Bank's commitment both to its communiities and to the environment.

The LEED-certified building includes window panes that three times more efficient than conventional glass and allow a generous amount of natural "daylighting" in all occupied areas of the building. In addition, the branch offices are equipped with motion sensing light switches, so that when the office is not occupied the lights are automatically turned off. The branch also sports solar shades for windows that block direct sunlight without
eliminating daylight.

Green from top to bottom, the building's roofing material is highly reflective and reduces heat retention; and is supported by trusses and plywood that come from managed forests, which plant multiple trees for each one cut down. Roof projections were designed to shade the building interior from direct sunlight.While the heating and air conditioning systems use 35% less energy. The state of the art plumbing facilitates educed water usage through dual-flush toilets and low-flow faucets.

Inside the new branch, nearly everything is made from recycled material�from the steel structure to the carpet. Pre-manufactured exterior panels reduced construction waste. The paints, adhesives and caulking used during construction do not contribute to greenhouse gases.

Under the lead of Curtis Pope, branch manager, the branch will aid the community as much as it does the environment. Pope, a Baltimore native who grew up in the Northeast section of the city and graduated from Mervo in 1997, says that he wants members of the surrounding community to feel like they can come to the bank for all their needs or just a bit of advise.

"I was born and raised here. There's something about having a branch in the area to kind of help the community rebuild. I love that piece of PNC bank. We can touch both realms of the community - low to moderate incomes and high incomes as well. We want to help change the community one person at a time. I hope that even if we can't do anything for them from a banking aspect because bottom line is you can't help every person, just being able to be that person who people can come in and talk to and put a smile on their faces or listen when they have life changing events and point them in the right direction," he says.

Source: Curtis Pope, PNC Bank
Writer: Walaika Haskins

The Center for Urban Families (CFUF), a nonprofit organization that helps low- to moderate-income individuals and families enhance their skills and become self sufficient, cut the ribbon and opened the doors on its spanking new headquarters located at 2201 N. Monroe Street.

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg building is larger and will enable CFUF to provide expanded services for its clients and former clients.
CFUF provides families with a selection of services to help them build skills and confidence to find the personal power to change. The organization's primary programs are Family Services, Workforce Development and Responsible Fatherhood. The new 31,953 square feet of commercial office and training facility will meet the needs of a significantly increasing number of individuals and families benefiting from CFUF's services.

"The purpose of constructing the new building was to allow us to increase our capacity. Over the last 3 to 4 years we've gotten the opportunity to add additional programming but we didn't have the space to house these services. We originally decided to look for a place to relocate and weren't considering building a new facility from scratch," says Joseph Jones, Jr., founder, president and CEO of the Center for Urban Families.

"But, this new facility gives us the opportunity, not only to expand services but to look at the types of partners we want to have to engage the folks most disconnected from the labor force and acquire the hard skills necessary to be more marketable and move up the wage scale," he continues

The new building will house the CFUF's family housing service as well as the organization's expanding list of programs to support its alumni.

PNC Bank contributed more than $5.5 million in financing to construct the new headquarters building in West Baltimore on the site of the old Baltimore Coliseum. PNC's investment consisted of a $4.2 million loan and $1.32 million in equity provided through the New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) program. NMTC attract private capital investments to assist in financing economic development initiatives in low-income communities. This project is one of PNC's significant investments since the company acquired Mercantile Bankshares Corporation in March 2007.

"We are extremely grateful for PNC's investment," says Jones. "With this financial support, we are embarking on a pivotal period of growth and expanding our ability to connect low-income Baltimoreans to their families and the workplace."

The construction of this facility is expected to bring additional investment to this area of Baltimore that has benefited from redevelopment activities by the New Shiloh Baptist Church and improvements to the Mondawmin Mall.

"It is incredibly gratifying to be involved with a project that is so meaningful to the community," said Steve Palmer, PNC business banking relationship manager. "Thanks to a dedicated team of professionals, we have created a financing solution that will benefit the Center for Urban Families and demonstrate PNC's commitment to strengthen families and communities in Baltimore City."

Source: Joseph Jones, Jr., Center for Urban Families
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake (HHC) kicked off its largest project in Baltimore to date building nine homes for area residents. The nine modular (pre-fabricated) homes will occupy the 2400 block of Fayette Street, between N. Montford Avenue and N. Port Street.

"Building a community of Habitat families is what we seek to do. The empty lot gave us the opportunity to build with nine Habitat families right next to one another to help enhance the community on Fayette Street," says Mike Mitchell, HHC CEO.

It will take some 800 volunteers nine days to complete the new  two-story rowhomes. The speedy construction of these modular homes in Baltimore is a first for the nonprofit org, which helps provide affordable housing to low-income residents. The prefab housing costs the nonprofit some 25 percent less than building them the traditional way - from scratch. Volunteers that include Baltimore Gas & Electric and Constellation Energy employees will assist with and complete tasks including painting, fencing, siding, landscaping, carpentry, floor installation and other tasks.

Although the homes have been pre-fabricated in a factory, HHC was able to reclaim a lot that was pre-wired and with plumbing. There is a bus line right outside the door. And, the modular's are air-sealed which means no leaking of heat or air-conditioning

"They should be completed by early October. Then October 17, there will be a dedication ceremony and Rally Event at Patterson Park starting at 3:00 pm. The Rally will serve a dual purpose in formally announcing the merge of Arundel Habitat and Chesapeake Habitat to form Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake and the dedication of the nine new homes and the nine families receiving their keys to those homes," says Desiree Wingo, director of Community Engagement.

Once these homes have been completed, the organization has several other projects, though admittedly less ambitious, on its drawing board.

"One particular project starting around the first of the year is on Clay Street [in Annapolis] in a public housing complex. This housing complex has been demolished and will be re-built with 10-14 homes being built with Habitat volunteers and the future homeowners," explains Matt Metzger, construction director.


Source: Habitat for Humanity of the Cheasapeake
Writer: Walaika Haskins