Construction could start in 2027 on walking trail, memorial garden
The next phase of upgrades to Dewees Park, which will include a “loop walk” and a memorial garden dedicated to the late City Councilman Kenneth Harris Sr., could get started in summer 2027.
“What people are looking for is a walking trail where they can enjoy nature, where they can enjoy family, where they can do their exercises and where they don’t have to leave their community,” said Sandi McFadden, vice president of the Mid-Govans Community Association. “It would be wonderful to have a safe and beautiful trail right in their own neighborhood.”
The memorial garden is intended as a tribute to Harris, whom McFadden recalled as “a great city councilman” who worked tirelessly to improve the community with a special focus on youth development. After he was shot and killed in a 2008 robbery, thousands turned out for his funeral and the Council praised him for a “strength of character that carried him from personal poverty to political purpose.”
The walking path loop is a way to make the most of existing conditions, said William Andersen, design planner supervisor with Baltimore City Recreation & Parks.
Dewees Park has been viewed as “not being accessible because we had steep slopes,” Andersen said. “So the loop walk was placed to be able to allow access from the south as well as the north” to go along with the existing east and west entry points.
The walkway will provide a new entrance to the park, off Woodbourne Avenue. The path will go along the east side of the community garden and then cross to the west. This design will require the removal of some trees that are growing north of the fenced area that holds planting beds.
“We’re going to stay away from the garden, but that means we’re relocating the fruit orchard that they planted out probably about six years ago,” said Andersen. New locations for the replacement trees are still to be decided.
One of the challenges in designing the path is the steep grade between Woodbourne and the part of the park that has recreational facilities. The path is designed to be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which calls for keeping the grade at 5% so that there is no need for handrails.
“As long as we keep the slope 5% or less, we can slowly climb up the hill,” Andersen said.
The full length of the new path will be eight tenths of a mile, including the walkway coming from Woodbourne, which will measure about one-fifth of a mile from the street to the recreation building.
Shorter stretches within the park will also be available. A one-third mile loop will make use of the existing walkway near the rec center to connect the path on the east and west sides of the park.
Rest areas will be established, but the current thinking is not to install benches that might encourage long-term loitering. Instead landscape boulders will be used to give users a place to rest their feet for short breaks.
Boulders can also be used to block unwanted vehicular access to the park, Andersen said. “Those boulders can also act as seating areas, if we arrange them right,” he said. If neighborhood residents agree, the city could install “some very large, flat-top boulders in the park.”
The tree placement and the landscape boulders are among the issues still to be worked out, he said. At the moment the park is viewed as being open dawn-to-dusk with no additional lighting. “I think the community still wants to reconsider that, so we’ll go back on that discussion,” he said. “Right now there’s no proposed pedestrian lighting along the walkway.”
The park currently has room for baseball and football, but the new layout will mean there “will be only one athletic field,” Andersen said. “It’s only going to be for one multi-use field when everything is said and done.” The baseball backstop won’t be removed, but “you won’t be able to play baseball and football at the same time.”
There are also some details to be worked out with the memorial garden. The community worked with a professor from the Maryland Institute College of Art and with Loyola University Maryland’s public arts class, McFadden said. Students at Govans Elementary created mosaic pavers that are to be incorporated into the memorial.
“We’re concerned about people walking on them, and their strength and durability,” Andersen said. “So we’re suggesting that we put them on the edge, like a curbing around the memorial, and prop them up on a vertical edge so people don’t walk on them.”
Plans call for the memorial garden to include a mosaic portrait of Harris, boulder seating, native plantings and inspirational quotes. “We want it to be a place of reflection, a place where you can go and feel peaceful,” McFadden said.
While there will be information about Harris, McFadden said the garden will also serve as a memorial setting for the wider community. “The language I have been using is, ‘A Community Memorial Garden in Honor of Kenneth Harris.’”
Neighborhood residents see the coming upgrades, which will cost roughly $1 million, as part of an ongoing process of improvement to the 14-acre park. Last fall a new playground was opened there, and the existing recreation center is badly in need of renovation and eventual replacement.
Assuming there are no budgetary snags, the project will go out for bid in the fall or winter. Construction would start by the summer of next year.