Rebuffed by angry neighbors in bids to build a juvenile justice center in North Baltimore, government officials have proposed a new site: a 5.4-acre parcel just outside downtown.
But residents in nearby East Baltimore communities say they will fight to block the facility, too. Although no firm decision has been made to build the 144-bed facility at Hillen Street and Fallsway, residents and community leaders say the threat worries them.
"Just call East Baltimore 'Land of the Jails,' " said Wendetta Elliot, 33, who lives in the Johnston Square neighborhood, less than a mile from the proposed site. "It already looks bad enough around here, so why do we get another jail?"
Already within walking distance of the center's proposed location are the state penitentiary, city detention center and so-called Supermax, where extremely violent or dangerous criminals are housed. A central booking facility for the detention center is under construction.
The proposed site, now a parking lot on the southeast corner of the intersection, was chosen by state and city officials after two locations in other sections of the city were opposed by neighbors. Residents in those neighborhoods said the center would lower property values.
Juvenile justice officials say the $42 million facility, which would house youths awaiting trial, is designed to ease a shortage of cells, and to shorten the time between arrest and court hearings. The 220,000-square-foot center would include hearing rooms for juvenile masters, as well as offices for the public defender and assistant state's attorney.
Stuart O. Simms, state Secretary of Juvenile Justice and Baltimore's former top prosecutor, said detaining youths would only be one component of the center.
"It's going to be much different than what a lot of people think it's going to be," he said. "The center will have preventive programs and be a community resource to all types."
Jacqueline Lampell, spokeswoman for the state Department of Juvenile Justice, said the site was chosen because it is easily accessible to all parts of the city. If endorsed by the state legislature and the community, construction would begin in 1997.
She added that a series of meetings has been scheduled with leaders of nearby communities, including Johnston Square, Lafayette Courts, Latrobe Homes, Old Town Mall Merchants and Mount Vernon/Belvedere.
However, residents and area leaders vowed to fight the project.
The Rev. Richard Lawrence of St. Vincent de Paul Church on North High Street said the proposed site is a "couple of long tosses" from his church. No one in the area supports the project, he said, calling it a "further extension of the prison center of East Baltimore."
"It invites the [area] kids to look out of their window and see what their life is going to look like," he said. "They'll see all of the jails."
"You think we don't have enough jails yet, right? So let's put in another one," said Rogers T. Thurnbill of the 700 block of E. Preston St. "They never think about parks [or] playgrounds here, just jails."
Councilman Carl Stokes, a 2nd District Democrat, said he would be "less opposed" to the center if East Baltimore neighborhoods received jobs and recreational facilities.
"I really don't want another detention center type up against the other ones," Mr. Stokes said. "I'd rather see it someplace else."