Milford Mill Market Square groundbreaking has county leaders thinking about "food security"

BALTIMORE --- The Liberty Road corridor will start to look different sooner than you think.

Baltimore County leaders broke ground on Milford Mill Market Square, a new shopping center at the corner of Liberty and Milford Mill roads in Milford Mill.   

"The Milford Mill Market Square," said Johnny Olszewski, the Baltimore County Executive. "This was a name that was chosen by members of the Milford Mill community to reflect our shared goals for this project."

The shopping center will also be the home to a new grocery store. 

"It will be a store that will be independently managed by operators who know this community uniquely and the people they serve," Olszewski said. 

Olszewski said the redevelopment will entice visitors to the area.  

"This redevelopment is more than just a store," Olszewski said. "It will also include new utilities, new signage, new landscaping and public artwork to encourage residents and visitors alike to enjoy their time here." 

The new supermarket will create more jobs and will bring back a grocery store to an area some call a "food desert." 

"We know that it is an important step to make these foods available and accessible for our residents to ensure that food is actually available within all of our communities," Olszewski said.

"I know what it means to just get up and drive down the street just to be able to get a bag of oranges and a loaf of bread," said Hennither Gant, a Randallstown resident and board member of Greater Randallstown Community Development Organization.

The Liberty Road corridor has been a hot topic in the neighborhood for some time. 

Last year, WJZ spoke with the Randallstown NAACP's president Ryan Coleman who said some of the major issues in their community is the lack of fresh food and a variety in stores.

"They have been very clear on what they want," Coleman said. "I think the impetus is now on us, on the leaders, to make that happen."

Now, a year later, leaders are pushing some of their ideas forward. 

"This is a huge step towards food security in the Northwest communities of Baltimore County," said Baltimore County's councilman  Izzy Patoka. 

"And I look forward to the ribbon cutting we will be there," said Councilman Julian Jones Jr.

Olszewski said the new shopping center is supported by $1.4 million of Baltimore County's revolving loan fund and $600,000 in federal ARPA dollars.

County leaders expect to cut the ribbon on the shopping center in 2025.