In a letter sent to Baltimore City Council Member Belinda Conaway this week, the owners of Mondawmin Mall pledged to give $50,000 for improvements to nearby Douglass High School, which Conaway said is in dire need of repair.
“Douglass High School has a swimming pool that?s been out of service for more than 10 years,” Conaway said. “The cafeteria needs to be expanded. They have a science lab and dance room that cannot be utilized. If General Growth is going to make all these upgrades to Mondawmin Mall, they can take it down half a block.”
In a Sept. 7 letter to Conaway, General Growth officials wrote that they “will donate a total of $50,000 to the improvement of the swimming facility and to the purchase of instruments at Douglass High School.”
H. Granvel Tate III, General Growth?s director of urban development, told Conaway that $40,000 will go toward the swimming pool and $10,000 to buying musical instruments for students.
Tate also pledged that a community group, the Greater Mondawmin Coordinating Council, can continue to useGeneral Growth Properties? office space for free.
He added that the “time is right” to begin a multi-million dollar upgrade of the mall.
The upgrade will include a new “big box” store, “smaller box” store, grocer, two restaurants and renovations to both the inside and outside of the mall, Tate wrote.
Tate?s letter comes in response to July meeting between General Growth, city agencies and community groups called for by Conaway.
Since General Growth Properties has asked the city for tax relief, Conaway believes the company should give something back to the community, she said.
“I had some concerns,” Conaway said. “There are things that we have to work on together.”
She added that the pledge to improve the high school and the mall will yield positive sentiment in the community.
“It?s a smart move on their part,” she said. “They get a lot of business from young people. This will be good for the area.”
