BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
Working with the City of Baltimore, South Baltimore Gateway Partnership, Parks & People Foundation, community partners, and a local and national design team, Field Operations is leading design for the Reimagine Middle Branch plan. At its heart an environmental justice project, Reimagine Middle Branch creates a new park system for South Baltimore that supports health, vitality, and catalyzes local economic growth.
The plan’s long-term vision is guided by three Equity Frameworks: Protect and Connect the Shoreline, Transform Barriers into Connections, and Strengthen Communities with Parks and Programs. These frameworks organize a series of projects to be implemented over the next two decades and identify three major priority areas: an expanded Middle Branch Park, Ridgley's Cove, and the Loop Trail.
Middle Branch Park, already a destination on the waterfront, will be expanded and improved with a new boathouse, improved boating and fishing piers, an expanded playground, an event lawn for festivals, and a covered outdoor pavilion for gatherings. At Ridgley’s Cove, large expanses of new marshland will form a “maritime park” and provide critical green stormwater infrastructure for nearby areas that are vulnerable to flooding and storm surge. The Loop Trail will create an 11-mile-long recreational circuit, connecting Middle Branch parks and open spaces and linking to regional trail networks.
Concurrent to the planning process, Field Operations has led a series of initiatives that center justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, including a Fellowship Program with Morgan State University’s School of Architecture & Planning, an environmental design program for South Baltimore high school students, and a mobile project hub to gather input in nearby communities.