More Abandoned Homes In Druid Heights Community Demolished
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Another row of abandoned homes in west Baltimore has come down, this time in Druid Heights.
Druid Heights said goodbye Wednesday to the blight on Baker Street. The 500 block was demolished Wednesday.
Mayor Catherine Pugh was at the helm of the project.
"This is what can happen in spite of us being the Freddy Gray area," Pugh said. "In spite of all the crime and violence, our neighborhoods can continue to be uplifted."
Druid Heights is home to about 550 of the city's 16,700 abandoned buildings, according to city housing data.
"You know, I go as far back as when they had Martin Luther King Jr. riots," neighbor Melvin Hall said. "So I've seen this area go down, and this time hopefully I'll see it come up for the best."
In 2017, Gov. Larry Hogan pledged $75 million to Project CORE, an initiative to destroy blighted homes.
The city pitched in $18.5 million with the goal of demolishing 4,000 homes by the end of 2019.
"This is bigger than just Bakersview," Baltimore City Councilman Leon Pinkett said. "This is really bigger than just the Druid Heights community."
City leaders promise what's abandoned and dangerous must come down, and what comes down may go up as something new.
"More is coming, we've already taken down about 16 acres up in Druid Heights," Pugh said. "We've been over in east Baltimore, but this is already scaled for new development and more houses coming along this area."
There are no set plans for the space yet. The city is asking private companies to think about building, calling it a new era of community investment.
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