By Brandon Henry
AFRO Intern
On Nov. 10, hundreds joined ReBUILD Metro to celebrate the opening of the Hammond, an apartment complex at Greenmount Park, as well as the opening of the new Johnston Square Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library.
Mayor Brandon M. Scott and U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) were in attendance for the opening.
“Johnston Square is proving what we can accomplish when we invest in the people in Baltimore and trust local leadership at every level,” said Mayor Scott. “Our city’s future is built in neighborhoods like this one, by residents who never gave up.”
The Hammond is named after Regina and Keith Hammond, a couple that has spent over 12 years trying to implement their vision of the community. Regina Hammond is the founder and executive director of Rebuild Johnston Square.
The Hammond will bring 109 new mixed-income affordable apartments into the area.
The apartments were built over 42 vacant lots, and were part of a $55 million project, a project that is showing to be worth the wait.
“Feel it,” said Jacob Day, secretary of Maryland Housing. “Feel that cold on your skin, on your hands and on your face and remember that what this work means is 109 families will not feel that tonight.”
The Enoch Pratt Free Library branch is the first new branch to open in over 15 years, marking the start of a new era for the community.
“By putting the community first, we refused to accept ‘that’s the way it is,’ and instead, we worked to make a new reality,” said Sean Closkey, president of ReBUILD Metro.
Regina Hammond called the opening of the Hammond Apartment Complex a “divine intervention.”
“Who would have thought that we would have been able to turn what used to be on this street into what you see today?” said Hammond.
Hammond said that this is just the start.
“For anyone listening in here that wants this to happen to your neighborhood, it can happen,” she said. “We’re going to do it all over Baltimore.”