Almost two years after breaking ground, developers officially opened the John G. Rangos building in Middle East Baltimore Friday in a ceremony brimming with prominent politicians, Hopkins administrators and development coordinators.
The nearly 300,000-square-foot building is the first structure in the Science and Technology Park at Johns Hopkins, part of a larger effort to revitalize Middle East Baltimore neighborhood that has relocated nearly 400 residents from their homes through construction.
"Our neighbors here have been collectively trying their best day in and day out to make their community strong, safe and healthy. We want to honor that legacy," said Jack Shannon, president of East Baltimore Development Inc. (EBDI).
Hopkins has leased a third of the building space as the new home for the Institute of Basic Biomedical Sciences.
The building was designed with interaction between researchers and industry in mind, according to Institute Director Stephen Desiderio.
The rest of the space will be leased to private biotech companies, three of which have already agreed to move in, while other floors will host business and retail.
Developers boast that this is the first biotech park built in conjunction with a neighborhood transformation.
They see this simultaneous development as a way to "rebuild and strengthen a challenged community in an ethically and socially responsible way," said Scott Levitan, development director for Forest City Science and Technology Group, the developers of the life sciences campus.
But absent from the opening ceremony was Donald Gresham, president of Save Middle East Action Committee (SMEAC). Although he was invited, Gresham did not attend because "I don't want the perception that everything is going well," he said.
Gresham was upset that the invitation-only ceremony was not open to community members, even as developers touted the positive affect development had on their lives.
"Even though we didn't boycott, we think it's a death to this community," Gresham said. SMEAC formally protested at a ceremony marking the halfway point of building construction.
"The relationship between Johns Hopkins Medicine and the East Baltimore Community is a fine one," Johns Hopkins Medicine CEO Edward Miller said.
But some community members are upset that the Rangos building opened before area homes were ready for people to move back in.
Rental units have opened in the area for seniors and members of the workforce, but many of those forced out by demolition and construction are homeowners who would lose equity.
"We will make sure to build the housing so people will come back to the area," Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski said.
The East Baltimore native recalled living and working in the area as a social worker, where she saw the drastic difference in quality of life between hospital and surrounding area.
Now, Mikulski said she hopes, "where drugs once killed people, they will be creating drugs to save lives."
An independent study found a majority of residents displaced by construction were happy after the move, and many residents are hopeful about the future of their community.
"It's very nice. They're doing a lot of nice things for East Baltimore," said an East Baltimore resident who lives a block from the Rangos building.
But vocal opponents to the disruption caused by development still remain.
"It's always beautiful for them to fix up the area, but the construction was a total mess," resident Caroline Hutton said.
Hutton decided to close Happy Days Family Day Care, which she ran out of her house located a block east of the new biotech building. She was concerned that construction on the Rangos building was causing damage to her house.
Concerns with construction are ongoing and are also related to city construction efforts, according to EBDI Director of Communications Helen Szablya.
These issues have been brought to Councilman Warren Branch, representative of the Middle East Baltimore. Branch could not be reached for comment before press time.
In his remarks, Congressman Elijah Cummings passionately lauded sacrifices made by the residents.
"They could have been distrustful, but they worked with us ... I hope we have earned it," he said.
"What we see in these blocks is not just bricks and mortar. It's the expression of the soul of the city," Gov. Martin O'Malley, D-Md., said.
"When I look out and see what was accomplished in such a short period of time, I'm amazed," EBDI board chair Joseph Haskins said.
Haskin serves as CEO of the Harbor Bank of Maryland, which plans to open a branch in the neighborhood.
It will be the "first branch of a bank in East Baltimore in the last half century," he said.
Further plans for the area include construction of four more buildings.
Developers anticipated that companies and businesses in the Park will bring several thousand new jobs to the area.
In the same phase of development, construction will include 850 residential, mixed-income housing units, office and retail space, as well as creation of a elementary school.
The houses in the area where Gresham lives will be torn down so the school can be built.
Rangos's donation came as part of the University's Knowledge for the World fundraising campaign.
The Greek-American businessman helped promote the recent finalization of official collaboration between the School of Medicine and the University of Patras in Greece. Through student and faculty exchanges and collaboration, the two institutions will work together on research.
Archbishop Sotirios Athanassoula, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in Canada, closed the ceremony with a prayer.
Other attendees included University President William Brody, Congressman John Sarbanes and Hopkins Hospital physician-in-chief Myron Weisfeldt.
- Additional reporting by
Michael Rogers
