Building Healthy Communities

Neighborhood Projects: Dundalk & Turner Station

Dundalk and Turner Station comprise the peninsula between the Patapsco River and Bear Creek in the southeast region of the county. Turner Station is an historic African American community dating to 1888. The evolution of both communities is closely tied to the rise of the nearby Sparrows Point plant of Bethlehem Steel.

The plant was a magnet for workers as it boomed through two world wars and into the 1950s. The significant drop in employment at Bethlehem Steel over the past two decades has caused some distress in both communities.

Like Essex and Middle River, Dundalk and Turner Station benefit from wonderful waterfront amenities, including 64 miles of shoreline. Both communities are in the midst of crafting plans for revitalization with assistance from the Office of Community Conservation and the Office of Planning.

An 11-member team of experts in urban design spent a week in Dundalk in early November to assess the strengths and needs of the community and suggest a plan for redevelopment. The team, called the Urban Design Assistance Team, or UDAT, is comprised of professional planners and designers from throughout the country who volunteer their services to help communities formulate strategies for future enhancement and growth.

Hosted by the Dundalk Renaissance Corporation, a non-profit, grassroots community group, the team's week-long visit was the result of eight months of planning and fundraising by the community with assistance from Baltimore County agencies. Capitalizing on Dundalk's history, tradition and charm, the team developed a wide array of concepts and strategies for invigorating Dundalk.

The ideas put forth in the proposals include:

• Building a tourism base emphasizing Dundalk's rich and unique civic and maritime legacy
  
  
• Creating a technology trail connecting Heritage Park, Dundalk Village Shopping Center, through to Broening Highway
  
  
• Improving road access to Dundalk from the beltway and Baltimore City
  
  
• Establishing a water taxi service from the Inner Harbor
  
  
• Facilitating citizen access to the waterfront and encouraging greater use of Dundalk's waterfront, shoreline communities and public open space.
  
  
• Taking advantage of the viable connection that exists between Dundalk and Baltimore City in a way that benefits both Dundalk and the city, and all areas in between.

The project has generated great excitement among Dundalk residents. They have devoted a considerable amount of time to the revitalization effort and are eager to carry it forward.

Turner Station

Building on the momentum of the Fleming center opening, the community is now working with the county to craft a community conservation plan. Key goals and objectives of the plan include:

• Preserving a quality of life by recognizing heritage resources and planning for the future.
  
  
• Collecting information about the past and discovering the community's history.
  
  
• Educating residents and visitors about the history of Turner Station.
  
  
• Involving the youth of Turner Station in activities related to the historic foundations of the community.
  
  
• Creating the Turner Station Heritage Museum and a heritage tour.
  
  
• Creating cultural and recreational assets at the Fleming Center waterfront park and the Turner Station park.
  
  
• Revitalizing the community's economy by creating or revamping restaurants, food services and commercial establishments in the community.
  
  
• Providing jobs in the community and encouraging neighborhood revitalization through heritage tourism.

On Saturday, February 23, 2002, the Turner Station community held a special event to celebrate Black History Month.

Revised February 3, 2003