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Clifton Park is a large and oddly designed park that is not particularly well maintained. Although the park spans 260 acres, it is not connected to the surrounding neighborhoods and is strangely segmented by busy roadways. In fact, the park is disappointing in many respects and represents a lost opportunity for a large park to have a positive effect on the surrounding communities.

Despite that criticism, the park has enormous potential. It is very large and has a couple of amenities that are unusual for Baltimore City such as a golf course and a gorgeous swimming pool that is connected to a community center and gymnasium – which gives amazing opportunities for cross-programming. It is the poorly maintained and designed fields and the roadways that need some attention and imagination to allow this park to have continuity and perform as an asset rather than a liability.

DIRECTIONS

Clifton Park is bordered to the west by Harford Road, to the south by Sinclair Lane and to the north by Erdman Avenue and has several different busy roadways inside the park. Directions are below to get to the different amenities at Clifton Park.

To reach the community center, pool, gymnasium and basketball court on the south side of the park go to the 2101 St. Lo Drive and find street parking in the area.

The parking lots for the golf course, tennis courts, Clifton Mansion and The First Tee Learning Center you should head to at 2701 St. Lo Drive.

The soccer and baseball fields are all along Harford Road where street parking is available or you can park at Clifton High School at the south end of the fields. Clifton High School is located at 2555 Harford Road.

Once inside the park, the following map and key from the Clifton Park Master Plan may be helpful in navigating around this large park. For an even more detailed map, check out the Baltimore Green Map pdf here.

BRIEF HISTORY OF CLIFTON PARK

Clifton Park is Baltimore’s fourth oldest park. Before becoming a park, the park grounds served as a summer estate owned by Johns Hopkins – the founder of Johns Hopkins University. When Hopkins passed away, he transferred the estate to the Trustees of Johns Hopkins University, with the hope that the university would be built on site. As John Hopkins University was built elsewhere, Baltimore City purchased the estate in 1895 to create Clifton Park.

In 1904, the Olmstead Brothers issued a report recommending that a comprehensive plan be created for Clifton Park. This was not accomplished, but the Olmstead Brothers were retained to design several projects over the next nine years.

One of the major changes at Clifton Park occurred in 1962. Prior to that date, a reservoir sat on the southwestern edge of the park. In 1962, the reservoir was filled to make way for Clifton High School.

Clifton Park has a pretty interesting and extensive history. For more information, take a look at The National Register of Historic Places Application Form for Clifton Park.

CLIFTON PARK’S MASTER PLAN

In 2008, the Recreation and Parks Department published a Master Plan for Clifton Park and updated that plan in 2009. The Master Plan recognizes that the Olmstead Brother’s recommendation in 1904 that a comprehensive design of the park take place. Although this recommendation was not implemented, “development in the park continued nonetheless.” This lack of a comprehensive design explains why the park is segmented by roadways and fails to achieve cohesiveness with the surrounding community or even the different segments of the park itself.

The Master Plan made a series of recommendations to improve the edges of the park, the entrances and the organization of pathways to establish a circulation system that makes sense. It also recommends upgrades to athletic fields, renovation of Clifton Mansion and further study to evaluate existing resources to determine if they should be expanded, eliminated or relocated.

Since publication of the Master Plan, some of the recommendations were implemented such as renovation of the Clifton Mansion and renewal of the tennis courts. Most of the recommendations, however, were not accomplished. The lack of progress regarding the Master Plan recommendations is disappointing considering that Clifton Park could have a positive impact on the neighboring communities and has the size to be a signature park in Baltimore.

AMENITIES

Clifton Park has a lot of amenities. Some of those amenities are unique, interesting and well designed and maintained while others suffer from poor maintenance and are not well thought out. This mix of well maintained and poorly maintained amenities leads to optimism about the future of the park along with disappointment about the lack of attention some amenities receive.

Clifton Park’s amenities can be divided into three distinct categories: historic, recreational and gardens.

Historic Amenities

1. Clifton Mansion

Clifton Mansion was built in 1802 and was at one point purchased by Johns Hopkins as a summer estate. It was eventually sold to the city along with its land to form Clifton Park. The mansion has been undergoing renovation since 2017 by Civic Works and the Friends of Clifton Mansion. On a monthly basis, Civic Work conducts tours of the mansion. The schedule of tours can be found here.

The mansion is located at 2701 St. Lo Drive.

2. Band Shell

Another historic piece of Clifton Park is the park’s band shell. According to the Clifton Park Master Plan, the original band shell was built in 1908 and reconstructed after a fire in 1947. Located just off St. Lo Drive, this band shell sits in a small field and (presumably) can be used for small concerts. The location of the band shell is isolated from other historical park amenities and sits close to a busy road. Given the condition of the band shell and its odd location, I would be surprised if this band shell is used on a frequent basis.

3. Valve House

One of the stranger sites at Clifton Park is the Valve House which sits on St. Lo Drive. Clifton Park used to be the site of a Baltimore City reservoir and the valve house was a part of that reservoir system. The design of the valve house is impressive with gothic windows and Romanesque arches. Unfortunately, this once beautiful structure is in such poor shape that restoration may not be possible. The placement of this decaying structure is just off the major roadway in the park making it a highly visible symbol of the neglect experienced at Clifton park.

4. Mother’s Garden

Mother’s garden was dedicated to the mother’s of Baltimore by the Board of Park Commissioners in 1926. The garden is located at the northernmost tip of the park. It’s difficult to find, there is not any designated parking and it is completely surrounded by the golf course and major roadways. I had trouble actually locating it.

Once inside the gardens, it has a few beautiful structures such as the small pavilion and shaded area pictured above. It also has a small stone bridge and a few plantings. It is not much of a garden, but it certainly has tons of potential. Unfortunately, because of its isolation, it would make it difficult to expend resources at this site even though it could be gorgeous with a little attention.

Recreational Amenities

1. Rita R. Church Community Center and Gymnasium

This community center is located at 2101 St. Lo Drive in the areas of Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello neighborhoods in Baltimore. The community center is directly connected with the pool and was reconstructed in 2013 after years of neglect. The community center includes a multi-purpose room, learning center, game room, craft room and lounge. Attached to the community center and pool is also a 11,000 sq. ft. gymnasium with a beautiful green roof .

The Community Center’s connection with the gymnasium and pool is well thought out and allows for great opportunities for cross-programming among these connected facilities.

The community center was closed when I visited so I didn’t get a first-hand look inside. Although the community center and gym look enticing, I could not locate a website that provided information on programming to determine what the community center offered to Baltimore City residents. They do post hours of 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9:00 to 5:00 on Saturday on the Recreation and Parks website. If you need more information about programming you can call the community center at (410) 396-8958.

2. Clifton Park Pool

This is a terrible picture of the beautiful pool at Clifton Park. Unfortunately, the pool was closed at the time I visited, so this picture does not do justice to this very nice and large pool. For much better pictures, check out the Architect Magazine webpage which details the pool and community center project when built. The pool has a splash pad and a large grassy area for lounging with some limited shade structures to keep out of the sun.

To determine the hours of operation, check out the Baltimore City Recreation and Parks Aquatics webpage.

3. Clifton Park Golf Course

Clifton Park is home to one of Baltimore’s five golf courses. The course is eighteen holes and takes up the entirety of the north portion of the park. The course is a par 71 course that is 6,016 yards in length. The course is in just OK shape. The greens are well maintained, but the fairway turf is not the best. Despite its shortcomings, the course is relatively cheap for a round of golf making up for the fact that it is not in pristine condition.

Greens fees can be found here. Hours of operation can be found here. The parking lot for the golf course and pro shop is at 2701 St. Lo Drive.

4. The First Tee Learning Center

Just next to the pro shop is First Tee Learning Center at Clifton Park which serves as youth educational and instruction programming. The Learning Center at Clifton Park is for short game learning as it is too small of an area for drivers, woods or long irons. To learn more about this program, see The First Tee of Greater Baltimore website.

5. Tennis Courts

Clifton Park has eleven tennis courts with lighting. The courts were resurfaced in the summer of 2020 and the surface looks fantastic. See a picture of the almost completed courts below. The grand re-opening was October 28, 2020. To get to the tennis courts, use the directions to the pro shop at 2701 St. Lo Drive.

6. Baseball / Softball / Soccer/ Football Fields

Clifton Park has two sets of athletic fields. First, on the east side of the park parallel to Harford Road are a series of baseball, softball and soccer fields. Second, is a couple of baseball fields and a football field and track located at southern section of the park. Al of these fields are in such a dire state of disrepair, they are virtually unusable. Instead, these athletic fields are nothing more than a very large field of weeds. This is where there is a real missed opportunity. The fields are absolutely massive and could be repurposed into something more useful for the community. At the very least, making the fields usable would be of benefit.

7. Basketball Court

Clifton Park has one basketball court. The court is tucked away in a small section of the park just north of the Councilwoman Rita R. Church Community Center at 2101 St. Lo Drive. Its placement in the park is strange and the court is in poor shape with rusting fencing and a degraded court surface. As of June 2020, there are no rims as they were removed as part of the COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, but are expected to be replaced in the near future.

8. Playground

I was only able to locate one playground at Clifton Park. This playground is for younger children and is located in a small wooded area just across St. Lo Drive from The First Tee Learning Center. The location of this playground is odd in that it is surrounded by a busy road (St. Lo Road) and the golf course and is isolated from the recreational fields. It looks as if there was a struggle to determine what to do with this small piece of land that was somewhat isolated and simply stuck a playground in the area to fill the space.

THE SCHOOL CAMPUS INSIDE PATTERSON PARK

One of the stranger aspects of Clifton Park is the absolutely massive school campus that sits right inside the park. Located in between athletic fields to the west and the golf course to the north, the campus sits right behind the Valve House. Placing a school campus in the middle of the park accentuates the poor design of the park and is an odd decision. When walking around the outside of the facility, it appeared that this campus actually housed a number of different schools. Despite that fact, it was not clear to me that this massive campus is still in use as the building is in very poor condition.

Outside of the actual building, however, are several recreational facilities that could have tied nicely into the rest of the park. Unfortunately, these facilities are mostly unusable due to neglect. First, there is a massive field that has a couple of backstops where baseball or softball used to occur. Although the grass is cut, the field is unusable in its current state.

Just to the west of the field lies a football stadium surrounded by a track with ample seating for fans. The track and field are in very poor shape as you can see from the below pictures.

Just behind the football stadium is the school’s tennis courts. These courts are not functional.

This school campus had some very nice recreational facilities and one point. The degradation of those facilities is a lost opportunity for Clifton Park as a whole and contributes to blight that permeates Clifton Park.

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