Pigtown Pop-Up Park

Imagine the intersection of Washington Boulevard and MLK as a vibrant, active plaza. Where pedestrians, cyclists and motorists can catch a glimpse of Pigtown's potential.

The intersection of Washington Blvd and Martin Luther King, Jr Blvd (MLK) is a physical and socioeconomic barrier to the vitality of the three communities that border it: Pigtown, Ridgely’s Delight and Barre Circle. As the first stop for drivers coming from 395 and 295 into Baltimore’s creative, exciting and diverse neighborhoods, the Washington Blvd/MLK intersection has the potential to welcome people, not serve as a barricade that dissects communities. Pigtown Main Street envisions a complete streets plan where these public spaces can serve everyone, not just commuters coming into and out of the city.

That's why we want to raise funding to partner with the Project for Public Spaces to create a temporary pop-up park. Your support will allow us to purchase cafe tables and chairs, benches, planters and umbrellas, a synthetic lawn and lawn games, and a variety of other assets to make this corner a usable asset for our neighborhoods. 

Pigtown Main Street will plan for the pop-up park during the monthly Promotions Committee meetings, which are open to the public- all are welcome to join! We’ll unveil the pop-up park later this summer. But the project won’t end there. The pop-up park will shape the design of the Washington Boulevard Gateway Project- a longterm major redesign of the intersection of Washington Boulevard and MLK to make it more pedestrian friendly, safer and aesthetically pleasing.

The pop-up park will be a place to  gather community input to inform streetscape design, plaza elements and rally community support, which will help advance the project and secure additional funding.  The project is likely to cause disruptions as road work is being completed, so we want to be as engaged and informative as possible throughout the process.  The park will also create excitement among the local community, which will help us raise awareness for the permanent solution.

The MLK intersection is both a physical and psychological barrier between Baltimore’s Western communities and its thriving downtown neighborhoods. Commuters speed through the intersection coming off of 295 and 395, and it is one of the most dangerous in the city, with 23 accidents and many near misses annually. It is a magnet for panhandling and littering. By activating a community space, we want commuters to be aware that they are entering residential neighborhoods with diverse shops, homes, residents and public spaces. We want to give ownership back to the neighbors of Pigtown, Barre Circle and Ridgely’s Delight!