Project Overview
The South Baltimore Environmental Justice Center will serve as a community hub for the housing and environmental justice work in South Baltimore. We envision a space where citizen science research can take place, where community organizations can meet, and where residents can turn for support and information about the environmental burdens we face. The center will be located on the corner of Pennington Ave. and Locust St. in Curtis Bay, in a building that has long been vacant. Construction will begin Spring 2025, and the outside of the building will feature a community mural.
We’ve received support for the SBEJC from Mural Arts Philadelphia and the Community of Curtis Bay Association (CCBA), and we are seeking other funding to complete construction. The building is made up of multiple structures that were previously combined, and it will require completely new framing to make sure it is stable and safe. The estimated cost for the full rehabilitation is at least $900,000, which we hope to raise through capital grants and private donations. If you’d like to support this development, you can do so through the donation link on our website.
Community Participation
The SBEJC will be the primary resource in South Baltimore for Environmental Justice education, research, and organizing. We engaged the CCBA in preliminary planning, with the help of the Neighborhood Design Center, in late 2024. Since then we’ve hired an architectural firm, and now have a schematic design for the interior which includes large open spaces for community events and co-working, private office spaces for SBCLT staff and budding local businesses, and a short term rental unit for future CLT homeowners. In addition to community space, the center design will prioritize green building principles, sustainability, and environmental health.
While we raise funds to complete the inside of the building, we are excited to start the community mural project on the outside. With support from Mural Arts Philadelphia, we will be able to provide stipends to community members who want to participate in the mural creation, and host a paid 10-week summer mural training program for 4-6 local high school students. We’ve hired Baltimore artist, kolpeace, as our lead muralist, and he is excited to bring his experience leading community murals and teaching youth artists to this project.
Do you like to draw, paint, or design? We want you to be involved! We are using this form to gather some information and ideas, and we will host meetings with interested residents to review design drafts over the next few months. During the summer we’ll host community paint days to work on the mural, and a celebration when it is completed. In April we will also begin accepting applications from high school juniors and seniors for the mural training program.
