We began working with the members of Lively Stone Church in the Spring of 2004 when we were contacted by Rev. Isaac Joy and Deacon Robinson, in response to the article printed in the Baltimore Sun about Project Locus. They have purchased a delapidated rowhouse from the City of Baltimore for about $3000 in back-taxes in Sandtown-Winchester, an eastside neighborhood plagued by poverty, drugs, and crime. The congregation has renovated a small portion of the building in which to hold services, and currently they occupy only part of the first floor. Their hope is that with our help they can redesign and renovate the additional space, transforming their space into a community center, transitional housing, and an economic base to reinject life into the decaying community around them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the major problems facing Baltimore, as well as many other former industrial urban centers such as St. Louis, Detroit and Philadelphia, is the steady loss of jobs and population over the last half century. The suburbanization of work and housing has led to vast amounts of vacant, abandoned and under-utilized property, both residential and commercial. Between 1950 and 1990, Baltimore City lost 75,016 manufacturing jobs or two-thirds of its total employment in manufacturing. With a population of 651,154 in 2000, Baltimore City now houses two-thirds of the residents it did in 1950, surpassing Detroit as the leading city in population loss in the last three decades.

Baltimore currently has approximately 14,000 abandoned houses and more than 12,000 vacant lots and nearly one-third of its industrial land is under-utilized. A recent nationwide survey found that Baltimore has one of the highest vacancy-to-population ratios with 22.22 abandoned structures per 1000 residents compared to an average of 2.63 per 1000 across all cities surveyed. The vast majority of Baltimore's vacant buildings are clustered in the inner core of the city. The neighborhoods generally have weak housing markets and are severely distressed in terms of physical and social conditions. It has, however, become abundantly clear that while we must continue to focus on those very troubled communities in the inner city, local government can no longer afford to assume that traditionally stable neighborhoods will remain strong without attention. A smaller, but significant number of Baltimore's vacant and deteriorated buildings exist in neighborhoods where isolated problems can, without attention, spread and cause a lack of community confidence, leading to a weakened market, and ultimately major disinvestment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Redevelopment neighborhoods have seen significant deterioration of their housing stock and ended up with dense concentrations of abandoned buildings and vacant lots. Traditional market forces are not working in these areas, nor are they likely to be re-established soon. Therefore, the goal in these neighborhoods should be to stabilize targeted blocks, remove the surplus of vacant and uninhabitable housing units, and create new uses such as recreational amenities, retail and employment centers. To that end, the City will employ strategies and programs, such as acquisition through the 5000 Vacants Program, whole block demolition, conventional and scattered site public housing rehabilitation, and CDBG/HOME funded affordable housing initiatives.

Lacking a dedicated source of funding to redevelop vacant properties, however, Baltimore City has been forced to take innovated approaches to a problem that demands direct investment, coordinated action, and a unified vision, including demolition and rehabilitation, brownfields initiatives, historic preservation and smart growth tax incentives, infill development and adaptive reuse, and community-nonprofit partnerships. The recently announced East Baltimore Biotech Park revitalization project is the clearest illustration of the current trend in Baltimore’s anti-blight strategy. The proposed park will attract companies wishing to capitalize upon the wealth of research and talent at the adjacent Johns Hopkins Hospital. The $200 million market-based infill development plan involves rehabilitation of housing, construction of new low-density housing, demolition of entire blocks, relocation of residents, and new economic strategies including marketing, job training and community reinvestment provisions. In the end, any successful approach must be comprehensive with people-and-place-based components addressing the decades of disinvestment and deterioration.

 

 

 

 

Our first weekend at Lively Stone, we started by disposing of the mountains of construction debris and refuse in the upper floors of building, and clearing the adjacent vacant lot of trees, overgrowth and trash. We then spent the next few weeks surveying the structure and existing conditions, generating a preliminary set of record plans and elevations, and had the site inspected by a structural engineer.

 

 

 

 

 

We are currently seeking funding for the renovation of the building, and plan to organize and advise a team of architecture students in the first phase of design and construction in the summer of 2005. Project Locus’ goal in working with Lively Stone COGIC is to combat the epidemic of the rapid deterioration of Baltimore’s inner-city neighborhoods by targeting the core of the problem, the city block. In association with various community groups and community-based nonprofits, we plan to house the project with positive programs that promote literacy, public health, civic awareness, substance abuse recovery, personal and small business economic growth, and general reinvestment in the community. Also, we intend to design the space as a model of self-sustainability, using green and recycled building materials whenever possible. Lively Stone is proposed as a prototype for several other community centers throughout the city. In addition to the church sanctuary and transitional housing for the homeless, the following are examples of potential programs:

Bakery

The primary mission of the prototype project will be to introduce a new business model into the community with the intention of strengthening the economic base and encouraging new business. The idea of a bakery is particularly appealing for many reasons, including its repetitive process and therapeutic aspects. The breads produced will be shipped to restaurants, supermarkets, and food service facilities nationwide, creating a capital base necessary to seed new businesses within neighboring Baltimore communities. The prototype bakery will be staffed and operated primarily by female drug and alcohol addicts in recovery.

Amateur Observatory

Project Locus will either secure the donation of, or build from off-the-shelf material, a 24-inch reflector telescope capable of viewing objects outside the bounds of our solar system. Operated by the Astronomical Society of Baltimore, and in cooperation with the Johns Hopkins University and the Maryland Science Center, our observatory will offer instruction to elementary and primary school students throughout Baltimore, allowing inner-city youth to reach beyond their immediate environment and discover a whole new universe.

Baltimore Access Radio, Micropower Radio Station

One of the most important factors lacking in Baltimore’s poorest communities is the ability of the residents to be heard. Project Locus intends to offer to underserved communities a platform to express their ideas and opinions. For about $1,500, we can set up a micropower FM broadcast radio station, capable of a broadcast range of 2 – 3 miles, owned and operated by the citizens of Baltimore.

Farmers Market, Green Grocer

Using the adjacent vacant lot, Project Locus will work with local suppliers and growers to supply to the local community fresh, organic fruits, vegetables and specialty foods aimed at improving the overall health of the residents. We will investigate opportunities for developing the front and rear green spaces as community gardens and, during colder months, greenhouses.

Baltimore Free Press

Continuing in the path of preceding advocates for political and social reform, we plan to establish a press capable of not only printing a periodic newspaper, highlighting city and community information, but also creating a small reprographics business.

Mainspace

The key ingredient of the prototype program is the forum, or mainspace, offering members of the community a common meeting place in which to discuss current issues confronting inner-city neighborhoods, and allowing for a continuing discourse to affect change. Additionally, the space could be used for cultural events, art exhibitions, lectures, and community theatre.

Initial plans and concepts:

Existing basement and first floor plans
Existing second and third floor plans
Vicinity plan
Phase 1 site isometric
Phase 1 program concepts
Program concepts, future phases

Students interested in getting involved in Lively Stone are welcome to contact us. If you would like to donate to this project, please mail a check to:

Project Locus
Donations: Lively Stone
4428 Harding Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90066

Or donate safely and securely online at: