‘Hillside Park’ is in new hands.
Members of the Roland Park Community Foundation on Monday completed their long-awaited $9 million purchase of the 20-acre tract they’ve wanted to open to the public as a new civic amenity, Hillside Park.
The sale marks the culmination of 25 years of planning and fundraising to buy the wooded hillside from the Baltimore Country Club, which is retaining its clubhouse at 4712 Club Road and about 12 acres at the top of the hill.
Community leaders say it will result in the creation of the first new park of its size in Baltimore since Patterson Park was created in 1860. A “ribbon-cutting and celebration” event is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 10.
The sloping property, once part of a golf course, stretches along Falls Road across from Poly and Western high schools. One difference from other city parks is that the land will be owned and maintained by a private non-profit entity so it won’t be a drain on the city’s budget.
The new owners say the land will be open to the public immediately and be accessible from dawn to dusk, in keeping with city park standards. A website has been launched – www.hillsideparkmd.org — to spread the word and solicit support.
“Hillside Park – a new park for Baltimore – is now open,” the website states. “This 20-acre green space has been preserved thanks to the passion and dedication of our neighbors, friends and local groups, all united by a shared belief in creating an inclusive and welcoming area. We invite everyone to explore and enjoy this beautiful sanctuary.”.
“Hillside Park is a great example of radical kindness and a commitment to preserving green space in Baltimore,” said Mary Page Michel, chair of the community foundation and leader of the effort to purchase the land, in a statement. “Hillside Park is about access, equity and honoring nature — a space that reflects the values of our city and invites everyone to enjoy it.”
The community foundation reached an agreement to buy the 20-acre parcel in December of 2021. Over the past four years, Michel said, money for the purchase was raised from 876 donors representing 42 Baltimore City communities, 30 different neighborhoods in Maryland and 28 states.
With the purchase complete, the foundation plans to hire a landscape architect to lead a “public input” phase and work with the community to create a “welcoming, accessible, safe, fun and affordable” public space. A “draft plan” was created in 2008 by Stuart Ortel’s Stone Hill Design Associates to show what is possible and help raise funds, and it will be the starting point for the final design.
A Request for Proposal process will be used to select a landscape architect. The final design is expected to feature passive and active areas, including walking paths, open vistas, a playground, possible multi-use recreational space, and an area for winter sledding.
Michel has said she wants Hillside Park’s design to be inspired by the legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted, known as the father of American landscape architecture, and his work creating New York City’s Central Park and Prospect Park and other public parks. Olmsted’s firm, and specifically his son Frederick Olmsted Jr., were instrumental in the layout and development of the Roland Park neighborhood surrounding Hillside Park. Ensuring that park space is welcoming to everyone was one of his guiding principles, along with beauty and access to nature.
In addition to working with a landscape architect, the foundation will raise a maintenance endowment to care for the property in perpetuity. It will also form a steering group for Hillside Park, consisting of key stakeholders committed to the mission and management of the park. A separate entity called Hillside Park Inc. will manage the park. “This is only the start,” the website states. “Hillside Park is a work in progress.”
“By the scope of its fundraising and the perseverance of a dedicated core, this was a collective effort that had all the attributes of a mission,” Michel said. “We are grateful for the outpouring of support from the community, our donors, countless others who advised us, and the leadership of our team who all came together to pull off what I think is a miracle. The pandemic showed us all the value of public green spaces and access to nature. This purchase was a once in a lifetime opportunity to enhance green space in Baltimore City and protect it as a place to be experienced and enjoyed by the public forever.”