Yesterday Rose Hindla bought an $8.99 bottle of brut champagne at Cross Street Market, chilled it in a pawn shop's refrigerator, and smuggled it into last night's City Council meeting.

After the final vote had been taken on Bill 828, the longtime Wagner's Point resident walked into City Hall Plaza and, with her husband and two neighbors, toasted the demise of their little piece of southern Baltimore. It was a small, subdued celebration.

By unanimous voice vote, the council passed the bill to take the 90 homes of tiny Wagner's Point, ending a tortuous yearlong battle over the future of the neighborhood. The area's 270 residents had asked the city last spring to buy out the neighborhood, in a heavy industrial area, so they could rebuild their lives in a less polluted space.

But now, with the city poised to expand a sewage treatment plant on the site of their homes, residents felt mixed emotions -- and shed a few tears -- because a century-old neighborhood of 10 extended families will soon be no more.

"I feel terrible in a way," said Hindla. "We still don't know what the city will pay us for our houses, or how exactly this will shake out. But it's done."

With the eminent domain legislation set to take effect April 1, Wagner's Point becomes one of a growing number of communities nationwide that have been bought out because of their proximity to petrochemical plants. According to experts, Wagner's Point sets a precedent in one respect: Never before have the government and the chemical industry contributed jointly to the buyout of a neighborhood.

During yesterday's vote, one resident sat stone-faced. Betty Thomas, a Leo Street homeowner who opposes the buyout, says she will put her body in front of any wrecking ball. "I'll probably end up in jail before this is all over," she said.

Pub Date: 3/09/99