On Saturday, June 22, 2018, volunteers, city leaders, and neighborhood residents gathered for the grand opening of Ambrose Kennedy Park in the Johnston Square community. The state-of-the-art park features ADA accessible walking trails, beautiful rain gardens to reduce storm water runoff, a swimming pool with bathrooms and changing areas, and an exciting splash pad for hot summer days. Parks like Ambrose Kennedy help make our communities livable, healthy, and connected—all important features of a safe city for all.
Volunteers have poured over 40,000 hours into this park. Even during the 20 years that Ambrose Kennedy Park was not in the city’s Recs & Parks budget, volunteers from The 6th Branch and ReBUILD Johnston Square spent weekends and evenings clearing overgrowth, repainting basketball courts, and ensuring that the park was a safe and inviting space for the neighborhood.
This grand opening would not have been possible without Regina Hammond, BUILD leader, who organized people and organized money to leverage key partnerships and a monumental $427,000 grant from the National Parks & Recreation Association, for use toward the restoration of Ambrose Kennedy Park. Future projects in Johnston Square include redevelopment of vacant homes around the park and nearby.
A huge thank you to those who have worked tirelessly to bring this dream to life!
Congrats to @ParksandPeople and @RecNParks on the grand opening of Ambrose Kennedy Park, a recipient of a NRPA Great Urban Parks Campaign grant! Thank you to @SenatorCardin for coming out to see this amazing park in east Baltimore. #ParkChampion pic.twitter.com/1jd0KDtq1v
— NRPA news (@NRPA_news) June 23, 2018
Honored to join Ms. Regina Hammond today and humbled to be part of the coalition that launched the new Ambrose Kennedy Park. Thousands of #GrabAShovel hours went into this work w/an amazing team. It’s your day, JSQ. Congrats to all! @BUILDBaltimore @ParksandPeople @RecNParks pic.twitter.com/NeHFzxoirZ
— The 6th Branch (@The6thBranch) June 23, 2018
So excited to reopen the newly renovated Ambrose Kennedy Park today. This is a huge win for the Johnston Square community. Thanks to all our partners that made this dream a reality. We’re also celebrating the opening of city pools today #RecNParks #BigSplash #Baltimore #MayorPugh pic.twitter.com/5W2qkeIKRP
— Mayor Catherine Pugh (@MayorPugh50) June 23, 2018
New St Ambrose-Kennedy Park dedication. Nice work @ParksandPeople and Baltimore Cityscape. pic.twitter.com/zkyfpo2vMl
— Living Design Lab (@Livingdesignlab) June 23, 2018
Media Coverage
Baltimore Brew on the fight for the park
Baltimore Brew on initial steps toward a park
Baltimore Sun on National Parks & Recreation Association grant
Baltimore Brew on park groundbreaking
WMAR-2 on park grand opening