Sisson Street Lot

NDC Project #2392 was completed in 2015. The Greater Remington Improvement Association (GRIA) has an Adopt-A-Lot agreement with the City of Baltimore to use the currently vacant lot at 2701 Sisson Street. They requested design assistance from the Neighborhood Design Center’s (NDC) Community Design Works Program in developing a landscape design for the lot that will enable them to appropriately distribute programmatic uses across the site. These uses include a community garden, events space for movie nights or yard sales, and children’s play area. The site previously held a laundromat, and several feet of new soil and a split rail fence were added to the site by the City of Baltimore prior to awarding the Adopt-A-Lot agreement to GRIA.

Although 2015 is the first year for the Adopt-A-Lot, community members had previously established raised beds on the site and captured rainwater from an adjacent roof. During the conceptual design process running from March through September 2015, GRIA has received mixed messages from the City about development plans for the site, including the potential sale of the entire or part of the parcel. The raised beds have continued this year as part of a plan to establish community ownership over the site and gain a say in future development. Additionally, GRIA has requested that the design volunteers pursue a master plan for the whole site, rather than anticipate a potential subdivision into smaller parcels.

NDC provided conceptual design documents showing a children’s play area, stage, and garden oriented around a circular green space, buffered from traffic by planted berms. NDC volunteers Nick Aello, Matthew Chiampi, Julie Higgins, Bin Liu, and Hillary Thomas, all from local firm Hord Coplan Macht, contributed 117 hours of volunteer service with an estimated market value of $10,205.00, not including NDC staff time.