User:Frantzsr/sandbox

This is for drafting a page about Northwest Park (Baltimore)

Northwest Park is a 49.1-acre (.2 km 2 ) urban park in northwest Baltimore, Maryland. Its boundaries

are marked by Northern Parkway (South), West Rogers Avenue (North), Enslow and Wexford

Avenues (West) and Greenberr (East).

Inaugurated in 2007, under the administration of city Mayor Martin O’Malley, Northwest Park is

leased to Baltimore City by University of Baltimore and managed by Baltimore City Recreation and

Parks.

History
The following information is from Baltimore City CHAP website: https://chap.baltimorecity.gov/mount- 

washington#:~:text=in%20Baltimore%20County.-,Mt.,for%20Baltimore%20middle%20class%20professionals.

“Mt. Washington traces its origins to 1854 when two men, George Gelbach and Elias Heiner, purchased

314 acres of land near the mill village of Washingtonville. It was Gelbach's intention to establish a rural

suburban retreat for Baltimore middle class professionals. Mt. Washington was only 15 minutes from

downtown by train. The residents of this suburb could have both the conveniences of the city and the

health and moral advantages of the country.”

“During its early years, the 1850's and into the 1860's, Mt. Washington consisted mostly of summer

homes. It served as a retreat for Baltimoreans trying to escape the heat and humidity of the City. It was

the intention, however, from the beginning for it to become a full-time suburb. Mt. Washington's

growth slowed during the 1860's due to the Civil War and an economic recession. In the latter half of the

1860's building began again in earnest. It continued in the 1870's, often the product of developers who

built small groups of houses. John Graham, a resident of Mt. Washington, is an example of such an

entrepreneur. He was responsible for a great portion of what is now the South Road section of the

district.”

A link to a Gilbert Sandler piece about H.L. Mencken’s link to Mt. Washington:

 https://www.jstor.org/stable/26483532?seq=1 

Much of the following is from the architectural survey for the site at the Maryland Historical Trust as part of the

Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties (MIHP) record found on the online database called Medusa

( https://mht.maryland.gov/Pages/research/medusa.aspx ).

Since the late 19th century Northwest Park has existed as a residence, a boys’ boarding school, the Mt.

Washington Campus of the University of Baltimore, an Air Force Reserve Training Center and eventually

as Northwest Park.

A residence was constructed on an 88-acre tract between 1877 and 1896. The building does not appear

on the Hopkins 1877 Atlas of Baltimore County, Maryland. According to the Atlas, this lot was part of an

88-acre tract owned by Wallace King. Baltimore County tax records of 1896 list the property owner as

0.E. Robinson. The house was assessed at $9,000.00 and the livestock, carriages, and furnishings were

assessed a t $2,450.00. The house and two outbuildings are shown on the 1898 Bromley Atlas of

Baltimore County, Maryland with 0.E. Robinson listed as the owner. 0.P. Gibson is shown as the owner

of the property in the 1911 Baltimore County tax records, when it was assessed at 15,000.00, and in the

1915 Bromley Atlas. Forty-six square miles of Baltimore County, including the tract that this house stood

on were annexed by Baltimore City in 1919.

The site was known for its association from 1922 to 1952 with St. Paul's School for Boys, a Baltimore

preparatory school. In October 1922, the property was purchased by the school. The school was

supported by the congregation of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church located at Charles and

Saratoga Streets in Baltimore, Maryland.

The school had been founded in 1849 by Dr. William Edward Wyatt, who served as rector of St. Paul's

Church from 1827 to 1864. During the 19th century the school, which was patterned after an English

choir school, increased its enrollment and, starting in 1866, began to accept boarding students.

The school began operations at the building on Rogers Avenue, its fifth location, in September 1923. The

property had been purchased for $26,000 with an additional $40,000 immediately invested in

renovating the house, improving the grounds, and outfitting the new school. In 1926, $20,000 was spent

on enlarging the building to accommodate more students. A choir room and additional dormitory rooms

were added in 1933. Further expansion to the school facilities included the construction of the

gymnasium in 1938 and the acquisition of 16 additional acres of land in 1941. During the 1930s and

1940s the school expanded the curriculum, instituted an honor system, and upgraded the academic

standards. The school was accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary

Schools in 1946.

In 1952, the property was sold, and the boys’ school moved to its present location at Brooklandwood in

Baltimore County. The University of Baltimore purchased the suburban Rogers Avenue property from

the boys’ school to provide athletic facilities for students enrolled at its campus in downtown Baltimore.

It became known as the Mt. Washington Campus of the University of Baltimore. The gym was renovated

and used along with the athletic fields.

The main building was also renovated and, starting in 1954, loaned to the 228th Air Force Reserve

Training Center. Reservists from Maryland and other states attended the center for training in radar,

communications, and engineering. The Air Force occupied the building until the 1960s, and it has been

vacant since that time. The University razed the main building around 1985. The gymnasium and

caretaker house still exist on the site today.

The following information is from articles from the Baltimore Sun and the Mt. Washington Improvement

Association newsletter.

In 2004, the university began discussing various developers’ requests to buy the property. The Mt.

Washington Improvement Association quickly mobilized and asked university President Robert L.

Bogomolny to preserve the park.

In 2007, Baltimore City, the University of Baltimore and the Mt. Washington Improvement Association

(MWIA) came to an agreement that allowed the University of Baltimore property to be leased to

Baltimore City and become Northwest Park.

As part of the agreement, the city paid the university $6.2 million, spread over the next five years, to

lease the park for 50 years with options to add two 15-year leases for $1 per 15-year term.

The deal also allowed the university to get additional revenue through a provision that authorized the

school to sell its development rights to the Wesley (now known as Springwell), which was prohibited from

expanding on its adjacent 13-acre site. By obtaining the additional building rights, the Wesley would be

permitted to build an addition.

From Mt. Washington Newsletter Fall 2007

“Several years ago, the Wesley’s [known now as Springwell] management entered into

discussions with the City, the University of Baltimore (UB), and the Mt. Washington

Improvement Association (MWIA) to try to find a way to remain viable. The answer came in a

unique “win-win-win” arrangement for all parties. The Wesley is paying UB for the development

rights for their land (the 48 acres of playing fields). UB then leased the fields to Baltimore

City to become Northwest Park, which under this agreement, cannot be developed for at

least the next 80 years.”

“This is a long project that will take years to reach an end. This winter [2007], the

development team will ask for a Planned Unit Development (PUD), which will change the

zoning of both the Wesley and the UB Fields. MWIA continues to work with City on the

details of the PUD and with the State to see if we can extend protection of the fields

beyond the 80-year term.”

Articles by Doug Donovan from the Baltimore Sun:

“City To Lease Land for Park” - September 18, 2006

 https://www.baltimoresun.com/2006/09/18/city-to-lease-land-for-park/ 

“Deal to Lease Land is Delayed” - September 21, 2006

 https://www.baltimoresun.com/2006/09/21/deal-to-lease-land-is-delayed/ 

In 2013 the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks (BCRP) released a master plan for

Northwest Park. The Master Plan was an acknowledgement of the park’s importance to the regional

community with the Phase V extension of the Jones Falls Trail from Cylburn Arboretum through the park

to Rogers Avenue and, ultimately, the Mt. Washington Village.

The master plan was completed by Mahan Rykiel, a consulting firm hired by the city to work closely with

BCRP and community members to create a viable vision for the park. Throughout 2011 and 2012 the

consultant team worked with BCRP and conducted a series of community meetings to ensure that the

desires and concerns of residents were addressed.

The master plan provided the city, community members, and other supporting organizations with a tool

to illustrate a long-term vision for the park, protect the park from unwanted changes, and guide park

enhancements over the next 15 years or more. The master plan also identified individual projects that

can be implemented incrementally as funding becomes available, to ensure progress over time within

the context of the greater vision for the park.

In 2014, the City approved $2 million to construct Phase V of the Jones Falls Trail. Phase V was the last

section of the JFT extending the trail from Cylburn Arboretum to Mt. Washington village and up to the

intersection at Greenspring, Pimlico and Cross Country Blvd. Phase V included a bridge across Northen

Parkway that allowed the trail to traverse Northwest Park and wind through a wooded area behind the

Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital. The project was completed in Summer 2017.

 https://www.baltimoresun.com/2014/01/22/2-million-jones-falls-trail-extension-planned/ 

 https://www.baltimoresun.com/2015/09/09/advocates-still-waiting-for-extension-of-citys-jones-falls- 

trail/

In partnership with the Department of Recreation and Parks and the Mount Washington Improvement

Association (MWIA), RPBL constructed a Little League baseball field at Northwest Park in 2017. Located

at 2200 Enslow Road, the field includes covered dugouts, a batting cage, bullpen pitching mounds, foul

poles, and a sodded infield. RPBL raised over $160,000 that enabled the project to come about.

 https://www.baltimoresun.com/2016/03/31/a-field-of-dreams-in-mt-washington-for-roland-park- 

baseball-leagues/?clearUserState=true

The playground at Northwest Park was the result of efforts on the part of MWIA (Emily Shaw and

Lindsey White). The playground opened in 2016. Cost for the playground was around $200,000.

 https://www.baltimoresun.com/2016/05/12/new-community-playground-in-northwest-park-in-mt- 

washington-was-two-years-in-the-making/

In October 2019, a red, “Victorian-era” house located near the entrance to the park and two other

house remnants located in the wooded area between Enslow Avenue and Northern Parkway were demolished

and debris removed.

In May 2020, the driving range was closed and the shed supporting driving range operations was

demolished and debris removed.

In August 2020, the Friends of Northwest Park (FONWP) was formed and had its inaugural park clean-up.

FONWP incorporated in March 2021 and received it 501(c)3 status in December 2021.

Historic Designation
Medusa currently lists for the site:

No National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) Records

No Easement Records

No Determination of Eligibility Records