The Friends of Patterson Park is one of the largest park Friends group in Baltimore City. With our 20 year history we’re not the oldest, but over the years we’ve been able to build on our strong community support to affect change and to share our work and perspectives in support of all Baltimore City parks.
Here’s what we’re working on inside Patterson Park and around Baltimore City!
INSIDE THE PARK:
The Flag in the northwest corner of the park. Being in the park and connected to our members lets us respond and support specific park needs. This spring we’ve worked with a Patterson Park neighbor, Jeff Riner, who is advocating for taking care of the flags in the park. He has been willing to research and commit to supporting specific needs. This work will allow us to have extra flags to switch out when the one flying gets weathered, and to ensure that the flags are raised and lowered in a timely way. Our flags are an important link to the park’s history, and to our city and nation’s history and we appreciate the support to make them look their best.
The Boat Lake. We’ve also been working with Baltimore City Recreation and Parks to follow guidelines in our most recent master plan that call for increased attention and support for the park’s historic boat lake. The master planning process made clear that the lake was more than 5 years overdue for significant dredging. We have continued to call on the city to make this a priority and they have responded. The lake is now scheduled to receive this maintenance work in the coming year. We are participating in planning for this project with representatives from the city concerned with both the lake’s infrastructure and the safe removal of the lake’s invasive species. We will play a key role in communicating plans for the project to the public both on site and through our social media channels.
The Pagoda. Our next effort will be ensuring the Pagoda is receiving the appropriate level of maintenance over the next few years by working with Baltimore City Recreation and Parks leadership.
Trash cans. Last year, we received an anonymous donation from a park friend to put towards more than 20 new permanently-installed trashcans in the park! We have the trash cans, and are working with various city departments on installation.
The Fountain. We were able to secure a new contractor to look at persistent issues have discovered extensive corrosion of the main pipe (along with other issues). Working with Baltimore City and private funders, we hope to move ahead with repairs this spring/summer!
AROUND THE CITY:
Our Executive Director, Jennifer Robinson, has played a key role in several planning processes, ensuring that the voice of Friends groups is well-represented. Most recently she was on the Steering Committee for Baltimore City Recreation and Park’s REC 2025 strategic planning process. This resulted in a comprehensive plan for the agency that gives direction for their work for the next 5 years. Their report can be reviewed at https://myrec2025.com/plan
The Friends is also part of several city-wide gatherings of park friends groups. These provide opportunities to share successes and common concerns. Most recently we participated in the planning for a Park Xchange workshop facilitated by the City Parks Alliance, a national park advocacy organization. The goal of this session was to determine how to better support partnerships between Baltimore City Recreation and Parks and park stakeholders. More than 125 people representing local government, foundations, community associations, and park leadership attended.
We see our efforts in Patterson Park intimately tied to the success and support of our neighboring parks. We are excited to continue our partnership with Banner Neighborhoods to plan and implement programs that highlight the assets (and opportunities!) in other parks in Southeast Baltimore. We’re also working with other organizations, including the Parks and People Foundation, who do important city-wide work.