New Look Coming For Blighted Baltimore Area
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Millions of dollars are being invested in a blighted Baltimore area as part of a city-state partnership.
A new look for Madison Park North.
Building Baltimore up means tearing some of it down. The city-state project C.O.R.E. is revitalizing the North Avenue property that became known as "Murder Mall" to the people who lived there.
"It means after many years of frustration -- I grew up in this neighborhood through the '60s until I went into the military, served in Vietnam -- and this place became a war zone. This is a glorious day," said Andrew Hinton, former resident.
The plan for Madison Park North is green space, affordable housing and commercial use.
"When I was campaigning here in Baltimore City, first of all, people were surprised to see me here, but I went from neighborhood to neighborhood. And as I was talking to folks one of the things they brought up over and over against was the blighted, empty rowhouses and they said, 'Look, some of these things in our neighborhood have been here for 30 years and nobody ever does anything about it,'" Governor Larry Hogan said.
It's the latest phase in the city-state partnership that invests $75 million in state funds and $18.5 million in city dollars over four years.
"We've got a lot of folks who want to do great things in our city. And what I've said is this is a great big tent, and we want everybody under it," said Mayor Catherine Pugh.
There are a total of 30 projects in ten neighborhoods.
Detailed information on the projects is available at the State Department of Housing and Community Development.