The Little Playground That Could

Through a public and private community effort, a Baltimore public housing project receives a long-awaited playground.

1 minute read

June 26, 2005, 1:00 PM PDT

By David Gest


"[T]his is a story about the building of a...modest facility in the O'Donnell Heights public housing complex, near the entrance to the Harbor Tunnel Thruway in the isolated southeast corner of the city." A recently deceased resident had long dreamed of a playground for neighborhood children. Eventually, "John Korfiatis, president of Blastech Enterprises in nearby Holabird Park...wound up getting his company and a handful of others to agree to foot the $17,500 bill for the equipment." Next, "Alex Ambridge [a local Boy Scout] contacted the Office of Neighborhoods, participated in a planning meeting with city officials and, two Saturdays ago, arrived with about two dozen other volunteers from his Scout troop to help city workers assemble the equipment."

Thanks to David Gest

Thursday, June 23, 2005 in The Baltimore Sun

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