Cecil Community Park

An empty outdoor playground with climbing structures, slides, and benches, surrounded by green grass and trees with autumn foliage, under a clear blue sky.

2000 Cecil Avenue
Neighborhood: East Baltimore Midway

Park Amenities:

  • Adult exercise equipment

  • Early learning playground

  • Charging station

  • Open lawn

  • Outdoor seating and shade structure

  • Raised garden beds

  • Quarter mile walking track

Transforming a community schoolyard into a vibrant learning space

The development of Cecil Elementary has transformed the school and its surrounding green spaces through a $3.6 million multi-year investment combining public and private funding. Phase 1 saw the creation of an outdoor classroom with trees, vegetation, and raised beds to teach students about fresh produce and food security. In Phase 2, we completed a full renovation of the park and playground spaces, creating a vibrant community amenity for the school, Cecil-Kirk Recreation Center, and East Baltimore Midway residents.

Our role

Parks and People collaborated with the Central Baltimore Partnership to create a new park in East Baltimore Midway, featuring a playground, exercise equipment, and a playing field. This project focused on direct community engagement to ensure that the park met the needs of local families and neighbors around Cecil Elementary School.

Partners

Project Partners:

  • Baltimore City Public Schools

  • Cecil Elementary School

  • Central Baltimore Partnership

  • Greater Greenmount Coordinating Committee

  • Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks

  • Sparks at Play

  • Hord Coplan Macht

  • Plano Coudon

  • Mayor’s Office of Recovery Programs

Supporters

The development of this park was made possible through the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) Project CORE, which invested $153k into the initiative. This project serves as a model for leveraging public funds to create impactful green spaces in urban settings.

Cecil Community Park Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

On October 24th, 2024, after the completion of phase 2, Parks & People, partners, funders, and community members gathered to cut the ribbon on the completed Cecil Community Park.

The Vision

A group of children and two adults gathered around a table with a collage of photos and colorful stickers, discussing and pointing at the images in a classroom or community center setting.
An aerial view of a schoolyard with two playground areas, grassy field, paved areas with game markings, trees, parked cars, and surrounding buildings.
Two women examining visual boards and plans for a playground or park project at an indoor event. One woman is pointing at a layout diagram on display boards.

Parks & People held community engagement listening sessions where residents shared their thoughts for transforming a disjointed play space into a vibrant and connected community space.

Render of a colorful community park with playground equipment, seating areas, trees, and a large building with vibrant mural art in the background, busy with children and adults.
A digital illustration of a colorful outdoor community park with playground, sports fields, walking paths, and a building, viewed from above.
A colorful urban park with water features, playground, seating areas, and surrounding greenery, viewed from above.

Before

Children playing on a colorful playground in a school yard, with a brick building and residential houses in the background, under a partly cloudy sky.
Empty grassy outdoor area with scattered black and orange tires and a building with a brick and beige exterior in the background, overcast sky.
Empty playground with wet pavement and a construction site in the background on a cloudy day.

Cecil Community Park Groundbreaking

Group of five people, including children and adults, planting a tree outdoors during a community event, with decorative balloons in the background.

Work started on Cecil Community park on January 11th 2023. Phase 1 saw the creation of an outdoor classroom with trees, vegetation, and raised beds to teach students about fresh produce and food security.

Group of children and adults celebrating in front of a decorated arch and building, some holding shovels, at an outdoor event.

Progress

Construction site with excavators, dirt piles, and a partially built brick wall, set in front of a multi-story building with many windows.
Construction site in front of a multi-story building with stairs, showing dirt, rocks, and construction materials.
Colorful archway with stairs leading up, a bright green trash bin, a black fence, and row houses in the background under a blue sky.
A park with a grassy area, paved walkways, and trees, with a colorful apartment building in the background under a blue sky.
Newly landscaped park area with green bench, small trees, and a colorful building in the background under a clear blue sky.
View of a park with pathways, trees, benches, grass, newly poured concrete, and a lamppost, under a partly cloudy sky.
 

Cecil Community Park

Address: 2000 Cecil Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21218

Neighborhood: East Baltimore Midway

Project Type: Schoolyard Renovation

Residents within a 0.25 mile radius: 2,293

Size: 1.56 acres