September 9, 2016 / Member News

Date: Friday, September 23, 2016

Time: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

Location: 1401 N Fremont Ave, Baltimore, MD 21217

Purpose

To build new relationships, reconnect with current/potential partners, and bring awareness through community engagement on a vacant lot off Pennsylvania Avenue

About “The Fan”

The Fan will be a two story, mixed-use community engagement center. It will incorporate retail incubator space, a grocery store with business leadership programming, a daycare, an art studio, and media labs with job training components. A gathering place and economic engine for Upton, Sandtown, and surrounding Baltimore communities, this new “Town Center” and “Community Hub,” will also offer local foods, theater, dance, music, team sports, recreation, and educational classes. Most importantly, the center will provide residents with the opportunity to interact with one another and inspire community, civic, and business leaders.

We are basing our concept on the proven model represented by The ARC (http://www.thearcdc.org/) in Washington, DC. We believe that this type of model, can be replicated in many urban neighborhoods to provide an outlet for entrepreneurship and opportunities for learning.

Lunch will be provided for those who register in advance. Hot dogs and hamburgers will also be available for community participants and on-site sign-ups. First come first served! We hope to see you there!

This effort started as a pro-bono initiative begun by:

Bryce Turner, FAIA, BCT Architects

Pastor Louis Wilson, New Song Community Church

Mark Deering, MacKenzie Companies

Our team has invited a variety of partners, stakeholders, community representatives, and politicians to this event as an open discussion to kick-start this design idea.

Registration (It’s Free!)

Please join us to discuss the process and development of plans for this area. In addition to the community clean-up effort, our design team will share their latest concept sketches, floor plans, and project vision. E-mail Camessia Johnson (camessiaj@bctarchitects.com) for additional information and to RSVP.