In the 1950’s, a corrugated metal crash barrier was installed to prominently delineate the municipal boundary between Brentwood, a sundown town, and North Brentwood, the county’s first incorporated African American town. Though the laws and popular sentiments have changed, the structure remains.
NDC worked closely with community leaders and residents during an 18-month collaborative engagement process to create shared values for placemaking
The proposed site plans included interpretive signs, benches, bioretention planters, tree boxes, pervious curb/gutters, and residential streetscape planting, and branched out beyond the street to the adjacent park
This phase of work was funded by the Community Design Block Grants (CDBG) program.
Designs created during this phase have been used in future phases of work, including receiving Maryland Heritage Areas Authority funding and conducting a public Request for Qualifications to select an artist team to move designs of art at the site of the barrier forward.
Collaborations between the towns and arts community resulted in $265K outside funding