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Over the course of eight weeks in summer 2009, four children living in park heights participated in a self-publishing workshop 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.
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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:
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
Mayor Sheila DixonCity Hall, Room 250 100 N. Holliday Street Baltimore, Maryland 21202
Sharon Green MiddletonCity Hall, Room 516100 N. Holliday Street Baltimore, Maryland 21202
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.
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