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Eighteen acre Dewees Park is surrounded by a series of row houses in the Mid-Govans neighborhood on the north east side of Baltimore. The park gets its name from long-time Govans resident and Councilman Walter J. Dewees. Dewees Park has the size to be a great park. Unfortunately, poor design and the lack of maintenance holds this park back from its true potential. Instead, the park represents a missed opportunity to have a large impact on the surrounding neighborhoods.

Amenities at Dewees Park include two full sized basketball courts, a large urban garden, a small recreation center, a playground, a football field with goalposts and two baseball fields. The park also contains several oddly positioned fields that could be used for small gatherings.

LOCATION

There are three major access points to the park. The most accessible entrance is at the south east section of the park at Woodbourne Avenue and Lothian Road. At this location you will find decent street parking on Lothian Road.

Another major access point can be found at the Dewees Recreation Center at 5501 Ivanhoe Road and drops you off near the middle of the park near the basketball court and ball fields.

The last access point is in the north east corner of the park at Harwood Avenue and Alhambra Avenue. This location is convenient to access the ball fields.

AMENITIES

1. City Farm

On the southern edge of the park just off Woodbourne Road is a large urban farm where community members can rent a small plot of land to plant vegetables or flowers. While Baltimore has numerous urban farms, this farm is probably one of the larger farms with about an acre of plots.

For more information about the farms or renting a plot, contact Baltimore City Farms Coordinator, Molly O. Hoopes at (410) 396-4850 or email Molly at cityfarms@baltimorecity.gov. You can also check out the City Farms website here.

2. Dewees Recreation Center – 5501 Ivanhoe Road

In the middle of the park is a small recreation center. The colorful paint on the outside obscures the standard government building look on the front and makes it more inviting. In 2012, the Recreation Center was in danger of closure. To save the recreation center, the York Road Partnership, Loylola University and the Mid-Govans Neighborhood advocated against closure and for improvement of the facility. Due to their efforts a recreation council was created to provide programming at the recreation center and some minor renovation was accomplished.

The Recreation and Parks website list the times the recreation center is open during the different seasons. The phone number for the recreation center is 410-396-2244 if you need additional information.

3. Playground

Just behind the Dewees Recreation Center is a playground. The playground surface is rubber matting that is degraded in several places. Other than that, the playground equipment appears to be in good condition and includes swings, slides and climbing equipment.

4. Basketball Courts

Just to the north of the City Farms and sitting right next to the Dewees Recreation Center are two full size basketball courts. The court surface is asphalt and is in relatively good condition. The courts are large enough that a small set of bleachers fits on the court. Unfortunately, the courts do not have lighting so play is confined to daylight hours.

5. Baseball Fields

Dewees Park has two baseball fields. The backstops are in decent shape, but the infields are largely unusable because of lack of maintenance. Hopefully the infields will be restored in the near future.

A large sign hanging on the backstop indicates that the “baseball fields for use by reservation only.” To reserve the fields requires obtaining a permit. For permit policies and applications, use this weblink. As there is no lighting on the fields, play is limited to daylight hours.

6. Football Field

In 2003, after the Northeast Youth Association successfully lobbied the NFL’s Grassroots Community Football Fields Program and City officials, a football field was built in the middle of Dewees Park. The field includes goal posts, a scoreboard and what looks like storage containers for equipment right next to the field. There is also a blocking sled on site, but the padding is in need of replacement.

7. Fields / Dry Stream Bed

The strangest part of the park is the awkward positioning of fields along with the grassy and tree laden dry stream bed at the north end of the park. Most of these fields seem like wasted space and the dry stream bed even had an abandon boat, along with other debris, that looks like it has been there for years. An improved design of the park could help make these fields a more useful part of the park.

DEWEES PARK MASTER PLAN

In 2014, the City adopted the Dewees Park Conceptual Master Plan. This master plan is a lot less detailed than other master plans for Baltimore City parks. Regardless, the master plan makes a series of recommendations such as adding walking trails with fitness stations, adding a pavilion and adding a spray park for kids. Below are some additional recommendations made in the plan.

While these recommendations could definitely add value to Dewees Park, a more comprehensive design is warranted. This park is large and could better serve the community that surrounds it than it does today.

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