Baltimore County officials dedicated a 5-acre park in the Liberty Road corridor yesterday, reinvigorating what was once the site of the troubled Savoy East housing complex.

Stevenswood Park, the fifth of 11 parks to be dedicated in the county this year, provides much-needed recreational space for residents of the Randallstown area, officials say. The dedication was held three years after the county bought the property and razed the 66-unit complex.

"Savoy East had to go," Baltimore County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger said yesterday. "It was a cancer that was growing."

The park features a playground, several walking paths dotted with benches and a large expanse of grass.

"The kids need some place to go when improvements are brought to the community," said Annie Reese, who has lived in the Stevenswood community for 16 years and welcomes county efforts to revitalize older neighborhoods by demolishing high-density, crime-ridden housing.

From 1992 to 1997, Baltimore County police responded to an average of 245 calls a year at the complex, records show.

In addition to Savoy East, the county has demolished, or is in the process of razing, Chesapeake Village, Tidewater Village, the Riverdale apartments and the Villages of Tall Trees, all on the county's east side. The complexes are being replaced with housing or parks.

Before it was demolished, 40 of Savoy East's 66 units were inhabited. Many of those tenants were moved to new homes in the Randallstown area.

The new park is two miles west of Interstate 695 off Liberty Road and is adjacent to Savoy Plaza, a shopping center that was recently renovated.

County Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, a Democrat who represents the area, said the park project cost $1.2 million, a figure that includes the $624,000 purchase price for the Savoy East property.