CAMBRIDGE, Md. - Cambridge officials have broken ground on the first phase of Leonard Lane Park, a project intended to provide recreation, connect neighborhoods, and create a place for community healing.
The groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday, July 20. Cambridge elected officials and staff were joined by representatives from the National Park Service’s Chesapeake Gateways program and project contractor Marshall Professional Property Management.
Phase one will include site preparation, grading, stormwater infrastructure, a submerged gravel wetland, a paved parking lot, hardscaping, a basketball court, and electrical service.
Cambridge Public Services Director Wayne Suggs said construction is expected to begin around the start of August and take approximately 120 days to complete.
Wendy O’Sullivan, superintendent of the National Park Service Chesapeake Gateways, said the project grew from a community idea to connect people with open space and link parts of Cambridge that can feel disconnected.
Mayor Lajan Cephas Bey said proposed walking trails along undeveloped “paper streets” will help connect neighborhoods while providing children with a new place for recreation.
Plans for the park also include a community garden that could provide organic food at no cost. Cephas Bey said the city will look for a community organization to help operate the garden.
A memorial and reflection area is also planned for families who have lost children to violence.
“To have a memorial here for them, a place of healing and reflection,” Cephas Bey said, “I’m just so excited, so touched and moved that we’re now to this point where we’re putting shovels in the ground.”
