Dear Mayor Dixon,
Did you have a playground growing up ?
Over the course of 8 weeks in the summer 2009, four children living in Park Heights participated in a self-publishing workshop with two designers and one artist through the Pimlico Road Youth Program and ARTblocks. They were asked what they would like to see happen in their neighborhood. This was their response. All of the following images and words were generated by them.
Well we don’t . We are writing to you to ask you if you could help us build a playground in our neighborhood.
Park Heights is a neighborhood in Northwest Baltimore that is rich with culture and history. However, it is not without its problems. Crime, drugs and economic depression are serious issues within the community. Despite these challenges, the residents of Park Heights are making a wide variety of efforts to improve the quality of life in their community. The neighborhood’s largest demographic segment is children under 18.
Here are some reasons why Park Heights needs a playground:
“On November 20th 2008 Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon took the first strike to bring down the 31-unit Pall Mall Apartments located at 4300 Pimlico Road… The complex had a national reputation for the quality of illegal drugs sold there and the ease in which drug dealers peddled narcotics… Park Heights resident Kenneth Morrison said he considered the change a sign of hope. “I believe Park Heights is in transition. There are so many possibilities for this community,” he said.”
-WBAL TV
The kids really want a playground! It will keep kids off the streets. Kids that don’t have friends can make friends at the playground. It would be a good place for parents to spend time with their kids. A playground would make the neighborhood a better place. Also, you can have fun parties there.
We have people to help us design and build it . Here are a few plans for the former site of the Pall Mall Apartments created by kids in Park Heights.
“To provide opportunities for Park Heights’ residents, especially youth, Park Heights needs a system of large open spaces that provide adequate, safe, active play space… Several open spaces are unsupervised due to their inaccessible or out of the way locations, and could be converted to better uses. Choices need to be made about the best uses of these properties.”
–Baltimore City Department of Planning “Park Heights Master Plan”
How you can help: If you are interested in supporting this playground being built, please cut out the letter from the adjacent page, add your signature and mail it to Mayor Sheila Dixon or District 6 representative, Sharon Green Middleton at: Mayor Sheila Dixon City Hall, Room 250 100 N. Holliday Street Baltimore, Maryland 21202
Sharon Green Middleton City Hall, Room 516 100 N. Holliday Street Baltimore, Maryland 21202
As of right now, Baltimore City owns the land where the Pall Mall Apartments once stood. We are encouraging the city to make the land available for the purpose of building a playground on it.
You can also donate time, money and equipment to the organization that will be handling the building of the playground:
ARTblocks P.O. Box 65085 Baltimore, MD 21209 ARTblocks is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Make your tax-deductible checks or money orders payable to ARTblocks
This publication was edited and designed by Becky Slogeris and Carey Chiaia. We would like to thank the following people and institutions for making this publication possible: ARTblocks, Bernard Canniffe, Pastor Greg Knepp, Linco Printing, Janet Mathias, MICA, Deborah Patterson, Mike Patterson, Pimlico Road Youth Program, St. John’s Church, and all of the parents of the kids involved.