South Harbor Renaissance (SHR), a nonprofit dedicated to maintaining and improving Federal Hill Park, recently completed a project to reduce “high-speed” vehicle, dirt bike, and ATV traffic into the park. With a $46,600 grant from the South Baltimore Gateway Partnership (SBGP), garden beds and bollards were installed to protect pedestrians on the path around the playground.
The bollards will prevent unauthorized vehicles from driving into the park at Henry St., which is the curb cut into the park along Warren Ave. A gate was also installed at the curb cut in partnership with Baltimore City Recreation and Parks. The bollards will also keep vehicles off the brick pathway circling the playground area.
A total of eight large garden beds with post and chain fencing were installed to the side of the path that continues into the park. This is to prevent dirt bikes and ATVs from swerving into the grass and gaining speed, while also beautifying the park with native, resilient plantings.
The SBGP provides grants to neighborhoods around Horseshoe Casino Baltimore using Local Impact Grants generated by video lottery terminals at the casinos.
SHR President and Chair Jimmy Iannuzzi and Vice President Nigel Crocombe worked to revive the organization last year. SHR was launched in 2012 but was inactive since the COVID-19 pandemic.
SHR has led projects such as the installation of Flag Staff Plaza, the restoration of historic monuments, the installation of a new playground, the planting of trees, the installation of new benches, and additional beautification projects in the park.
Iannuzzi and Crocombe have outlined $350,000 to $500,000 in improvements they want to see at the park. They held listening sessions with the community to hear the needs for the park and have shared updates on their progress at Federal Hill Neighborhood Association (FHNA) meetings.
With the help of Delegate Mark Edelson, SHR recently secured $29,000 through a legislative bond initiative from the State of Maryland for repairs to the playground and for a new kids reading area to be installed. This project is in the final stages of planning.
SHR has allocated $32,000 from Baltimore National Heritage Area and the FHNA’s Federal Hill House Tour to install historic-style hand railings to improve safety at the two staircases near the Warren Ave. and Battery Ave. intersection, as well as to add two new interpretive signs detailing the history of the park’s signal towers and underground tunnels.
SHR has also applied for funding from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development to install concrete curb bump outs and crosswalks at the Warren Ave./Battery Ave./Riverside Ave. intersection to improve the pedestrian experience around the park.
The organization partnered with Baltimore City Recreation and Parks to plant 21 new trees in the park this fall, order new benches where others have been removed, install the gate at Warren Avenue, and make routine repairs.
Iannuzzi noted Federal Hill Park is not only one the most visited landmarks in Maryland, it is the front yard for so many neighbors in the community who lack their own green spaces.
