Historic Hoes Heights Faces Attempted Manipulation by the Roland Park Community Foundation to Change 100 Years of Black Legacy in Baltimore

By Hoes Heights Action Committee

(BALTIMORE – August 29, 2022) – Since the renovation of the beautiful and historic Roland Water Tower (RWT), there have been many meetings shepherded by the Roland Park Community Foundation and its committees to discuss potential design options to enhance the green space surrounding the renovated monument. Unfortunately, the process that led to the permanent road closure of the tower advocated for and now being sought for final design approval by agencies of the City of Baltimore including CHAP (Baltimore City Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation) has not allowed for the voices of those most affected by this closure to be heard.  This design process was conceived in the early days of the 2009 Greater Roland Park Master Plan and has intentionally excluded and misrepresented the community most affected by this closure: Hoes Heights, a neighborhood established by a formerly enslaved man and one of the oldest black historical communities in Baltimore.

Today, the Roland Park Community Foundation (RPCF), chaired by Mary Page Michel, and its subgroup the Roland Water Tower Steering Committee, have ignored the concerns of Hoes Heights residents and misrepresented our community in its design presentations to the Maryland Historic Trust (MHT), the Baltimore City for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP), City of Baltimore Department of Transportation (DOT), and the City of Baltimore Department of Public Works (DPW).  Indeed, RPCF hired Unknown Studios, a landscape design studio, to create several options for a redesign of the green space surrounding the Roland Water Tower. Although Unknown Studios initially created a design with full road access, the final design that is now being shepherded through (without buy-in from the majority of Hoes Heights residents) will permanently shut down the traffic circle around the Tower that for over 100 years and until it’s recent closure has served as a safe gateway in and out of our community.

Much has progressed in Hoes Heights over the last century. Living in this still predominantly Black community are now the sons, daughters, cousins, and grandchildren of its original residents, many of whom were the nannies, housekeepers, gardeners, and chauffeurs to Roland Park and beyond – communities from which our Black ancestors were excluded by deeds, custom, and means.