To those spearheading an effort to revitalize Cherry Hill, the grand opening yesterday of a supermarket in the economically depressed southern Baltimore neighborhood provides residents with a convenient place to shop -- and a reason to be proud.

"It looks so good," Lisa Burden, economic development coordinator of Catholic Charities, said of the new Super Pride Market in the renovated Cherry Hill Town Center. "It boosts the image of the community."

Catholic Charities bought the neighborhood shopping center on Cherry Hill Road early last year for $1.1 million as part of a $5.5 million redevelopment project involving public and private funds.

The renovation nearly doubles the size of the supermarket, from 10,000 square feet to 18,000 square feet.

"That is our investment in the city and our investment in terms of trying to give the community the type of supermarket, in terms of size and equipment, [that] they are looking for," said Oscar A. Smith Jr., president of Super Pride Markets, which operates seven stores in Baltimore. Super Pride contributed $1.5 million to the project.

A second grand opening, scheduled for Dec. 3-5, will be held for the rest of the shopping center, which includes a reopened barber shop and discount store, and a food court under construction.

Pub Date: 10/15/98