Baltimore will receive the nation?s third urban Audubon Center with the expansion of the Patterson Park Audubon into a new facility in the park.
The Patterson Park Audubon will move out of a storefront and into a state-of-the-art facility at the park?s Virginia S. Baker Recreation Center in Baltimore City, which will receive a $3.3 million upgrade to house the program.
The center will be just the third urban facility for the National Audubon Society, with others in east Los Angeles and New York. The society?s centers are generally located in rural areas.
The Maryland-D.C. branch, located on the Eastern Shore, chose Baltimore over Washington for its urban location with support from the Friends of Patterson Park, according to Audubon Maryland-D.C.?s executive director Rick Leader. “We found Baltimore to be incredibly welcoming to us,” Leader said. “The Friends of Patterson Park really got things going by introducing us to everyone in the neighborhood.”
City officials including Mayor Sheila Dixon said the move would expand the center?s educational programs at the park, in operation since 2002, and further the partnership between the city and the National Audubon Society.
Dixon said the city had begun to, “partner differently than we have in the past … so that young people will have another chance to enhance their lives.”
The recreation center will receive a second-story annex to house the Patterson Park Audubon, and will include environmentally friendly technology including a geothermal heating and cooling system and a “green” roof.
The city will fund construction costs, with Audubon matching those funds with an endowment for ongoing operation expenses. Audubon, the Friends of Patterson Park and the Department of Recreation and Parks plan surveys and community meetings this fall to refine the plans.
More than 70 students from Patterson Park Public Charter School and the Wolfe Street Academy attended a news conference Wednesday announcing the plans, and Dixon urged them to take advantage of the new facility.
“We are doing this for you,” Dixon said. “But if you don?t take advantage of the many opportunities around here, you can?t blame anyone but yourself.”
New Audubon center
The Virginia S. Baker Recreation Center at Patterson Park will house the Patterson Park Audubon following extensive renovations.
» Cost: $3.3 million
» Tentative Start: July 2009
» Tentative Completion:
Summer 2011
» Additional space created: 4,000 square feet
» Features: Additional second floor for the Audubon; environmentally friendly technology including geothermal heating and cooling and a “green” roof.
