Laura Greenback, The Examiner
2006-07-22 09:00:00.0
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BALTIMORE -

Rash Field’s trapeze school and 1,000 tons of sand are paradise on the Inner Harbor for some, and an overgrown sandbox for others.

Its fate will be determined when the city excavates the park, installs a public underground parking garage and builds a new park on top of the garage in coming months.

“I’m tired of seeing concrete from Canton to Locust Point. We need a place where the citizens of Baltimore can come down and partake in our Inner Harbor,” said Todd Webster, the founder and general organizer of Baltimore Beach Volleyball.

He and the volleyball players are asking for a say in the redesign of the park. So far, Webster has collected about 700 signatures from the nearly 1,200 participants who use the volleyball courts each week.

“We don’t need another monument to a dead person that no one knows. We don’t need another fountain to sit around and read books,” Webster said.

City law requires Rash Field to continue to be used as a park, said Malkia McLeod, spokesperson for Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks.

However, Kim Clark, director of economic development for east Baltimore, hinted that she thinks the area needs improvement.

“If you look at it now, it’s a giant sandbox. People don’t really use it as a park,” Clark said.

The trapeze school, Baltimore Beach Volleyball, Federal Hill residents and local businesses will be invited to a public forum to determine what is best for the park, Clark said. No date has been set.

“We respect the fact that the beach volleyball folks and the trapeze school like to use it. They have a terrific turnout and a wonderful program,” Clark said.

Baltimore Beach Volleyball has been in existence for six years, and is used seven days a week for league and drop-in play for men’s, women’s and coed volleyball, as well as the occasional soccer match.

Trapeze School New York’s Baltimore school has been in Baltimore for two years and offers classes seven days a week.

“When you are on the Rash Field after a hard day’s work and you look up and see the Inner Harbor lights turn on, there’s nothing else in the world that makes you feel more like you are a part of your city again,” Webster said.

lgreenback@baltimoreexaminer.com