Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown leads a round of applause for those responsible for the Yorkway project, accompanied (from left) by Dundalk Renaissance Corp. president Janice Evans, Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr., county Office of Community Conservation director Mary Harvey, U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, Councilman John Olszewski Sr., Del. John Olszewski Jr., councilman Kevin Kamenetz and developer John Vontran.    photo by Randy Leonard

Officials praise each other at groundbreaking

by Randy Leonard

    Completely unaware of the chaos that would ensue elsewhere in Dundalk later that day, scads of elected officials and Baltimore County employees descended on Yorkway to celebrate the start of construction on a new housing development Friday.
     About 80 people attended the event, including nearly 20 elected officials, county directors and community leaders, to break ground on a model home for the 66-unit development.
    “We come and go, but you are here,” term-limited Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. said of the community – adding, “Senator [Norman] Stone doesn’t ever go.”
    Smith thanked the state for forgiving a $2.2 million loan on the project, which combined with $18.2 million in county funds was used to purchase the blighted York Park apartment complex.
    “Without the state helping us, we couldn’t have aquired the site,” Smith said.
    U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, who has introduced legislation to extend the first-time homebuyer credit to June 2010, called the event “special.”
 “Congratulations for a great day in Dundalk,” he said.
    “This is what renaissance is all about,” Smith said, using a word he has worked into speeches since his first campaign in 2001, despite the feedback he got that people would not know how to spell it.
    The project will transform what was a crime-ridden apartment complex into a development that will be “an asset for this community,” Smith said. “It really is exciting.”
    R-E-N-A-I-S-S-A-N-C-E, spelled out Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown during his turn at the podium, praising Smith’s efforts.
    The process started 10 years ago when one of the first calls Baltimore County Councilman John Olszewski Sr. (7th District) received after taking office concerned the blighted York Park Apartments, the councilman said, making a comparison to the Wild West.
    Though wearing a pinstriped suit, not a sweater, Olszewski described his vision of the new development as more resembling a place Mr. Rogers would reside.
    “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood,” he said.
    Perry Hall resident and developer John Vontran said that as a local man he is proud to be part of the Yorkway redevelopment.
    “My participation seems very small in comparison” to that of elected officials and community members, Vontran said.
    “The Seagram’s property is next,” Vontran said to applause, pointing to a tower visible over the trees.
    “You’re making a valuable investment,” Dundalk Renaissance Corp. president Janice Evans said to Vontran from the lectern.
    “I think it is a good day for Dundalk,” Glenn Shaffer, vice president of the Old Dundalk Neighborhood Association, said after the ceremony.
    Not everyone was pleased with the final result and a number of residents objected to the closing of an alley behind a portion of the development, Shaffer said. He hopes the finished product will be the asset it is promised to be and that the new houses will sell.
    The model home is expected to be completed by December and sales to begin in January, Vontran said.