Historic Jonestown: The Empty North

 Today Historic Jonestown consists of little more than the Albemarle Square development which itself is a redevelopment of the old Flag-House Courts public housing high rises which itself was a redevelopment of the actual Jonestown Neighborhood consisting of Corned Beef Row and traditional Baltimore row houses. There are a few remaining vestiges of this row house Neighborhood that predates the JFX, Flag House Courts, and the redlining segregationist laws that allowed the highway and high rises to be constructed in the first place.

I have long pondered ways to rejuvenate these parts of the Neighborhood many of which lie on the edges of the Neighborhood. The parts in question long along E. Baltimore St. and Fayette St. on the northern edge of Jonestown. Right now there are a few row houses or Apartments some of which have ground floor Retail with a few vacant lots in between them. When compared to Downtown to the west, the Johns Hopkins Campus to the east, and Little Italy and Albemarle Square to the south this is a desolate no mans land. So how do we get feet on the ground in the empty north of Historic Jonestown? This original plan probably won't cut it. 

As you can see, all I'm really proposing in this old plan is  just more of the same in the northern edge and does very little to address the no mans land. At this time I also was under the impression that the old Hendler Ice Cream plant's redevelopment was still a go and that that would be a catalyst to other future projects. The only problem is that there aren't any real parcels for redevelopment in that small area re urbanize the area. I mean sure there's the new Ronald McDonald House which has been a great asset throughout the City but has done little to rejuvenate the blocks of Baltimore and Fayette St. in question.

So other than the Hendler Creamery and a few other scattered sites in Historic Jonestown what can be redeveloped and integrated into the urban landscape? Well lets take a look into the empty area north of Albemarle Square. Between Baltimore and Fayette St. shall we? First, there's a building and accompanying parking garage for the Baltimore City Health Department and another building for the National Aquarium Animal Care and Rescue Center. North of Fayette St. is the sprawling Post Office Complex, a building for the Living Classrooms Foundation, and another one for the Y Head Start Center. These buildings all serve a great purpose but won't do much to put feet on the ground throughout historic Jonestown.

The thought did come to me that these buildings could be rebuilt up instead of out to create a more urban atmosphere with residences to create population growth and feet on the ground. Their parking would be underground as well including the parking for mail trucks. But where? I mean, those existing structures would have to be torn down and they can't stop their operations while they wait for a new building. Fortunately I drew up redevelopment plans for the Edison Lots in hopes of the FBI relocating from DC Baltimore. This didn't happen but the blocks slated for Office Buildings can house the Post,, Office, Health Department, and Aquarium Facility each in its own building. The rest of the Edison Lots can be for Residential uses as proposed in the original plans.

Back to Historic Jonestown which is directly south of the Edison Lots. With these complexes out of the way, then the land that they currently occupy can be used for residential development which would be of a higher density than that of Albemarle Square to put feet on the ground and make for large population gains since nothing residential was torn down to make room for it. This is true for the Edison Lots as well. The Y Head Start and UA Living Classrooms building can have residences built over top of them since their footprints are conducive due to the development/redevelopment needed for the area. There are existing plans to redevelop the old Charles Carroll of Carrollton Elementary School as Senior Apartments as well as rehabbing the Old Eastern High School also as Senior Apartments.

All of this new development will have frontage of both Baltimore and Fayette St. Fayette St. has been widened to a suburban arterial with little walkability. Part of this new redevelopment will include adding bike lanes, bus lanes, sidewalks, while narrowing through lanes and adding turn lanes to create a main street environment for Fayette St. similar to what's already there along Lombard St. and yes I believe this new population growth and the feet on the ground will bring new tenants to Corned Beef Row. So what are we waiting for? Lets relocate the Post Office, Health Department, and Aquarium Facility to the Edison Lots to anchor its redevelopment so we can in turn redevelop Historic Jonestown's Empty North.