The Maryland Board of Public Works has recently approved a $15.3 million purse designed to amp up park facilities and lock in land conservation across Baltimore City and several of its county cousins. A part of this green injection - close to $2.8 million from Program Open Space – Local - is set to revitalize two urban green spaces in Baltimore City, including updates to the longstanding Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory and new recreation infrastructure for North Harford Park, as the Maryland Department of Natural Resources reported.

Baltimore City's parks are on track to score a major glow-up, with a $10 million direct grant earmarked for projects such as remodeling the Frederic B. Leidig Recreation Center and City Springs Park, not to mention drumrolls, the creation of a new hub for the neighborhood called Cab Calloway Legends Square Park. In a move that isn’t exactly shocking but still welcome, a neat $500,000 has also been bagged by the city for the Greenmount Park project, set to transform Johnston Square, all of this in addition to funds tagged for the less thrilling but critically important maintenance and planning work that keeps the city’s park system humming.

Peering beyond Baltimore, the funding pot from the Local Parks and Playgrounds Infrastructure Program is also being spooned out to less urban areas like a modest $11,200 to Frederick County for a new concessions stand at Myers Community Park; plus, Kent and St. Mary’s counties are to snatch up $5,800 for communication boards in their parks, making it easier for folks with limited language abilities to get their play on and communicate needs and wants without a hitch.

And let's not forget the rural scene: conservation easements are in the works for 485 acres of Maryland earth, including a promising 399-acre slice on the Eastern Shore to be stewarded by the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, alongside an 86-acre portion in Worcester County, safeguarding shoreline buffers and essential habitats for our feathered friends and aquatic creatures.