Two summers ago, a Shop Rite opened in Howard Park on a lot where the remnants of a failed super market had blighted the neighborhood for more than a decade.

Calvin Rodwell Elementary School is across the street – on Forest Park Av. Planning has begun to make this a 21st Century school, which will open in the fall of 2019.

The Ambassador Theatre is on Liberty Heights Av., east of the grocery store. Barry Levenson first went to the movies here.

Slots money and other capital funds will be needed to restore the building.
“Three killed in three days within a block of Howard Park,” blared the headline in the Sun this past April.

The fulcrum of that block was a liquor store with a license that allowed it to stay open past the closing time for other liquor stores.

Within a week, a community meeting packed the cafeteria at Calvin Rodwell.

A greater police presence has cut down on the loitering outside the store, which is on Gwynn Oak Av., the western boundary of the Shop Rite.

Another product of the community meeting was House Bill 1136, which would reduce the store’s hours of operation to 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

My 41st District colleagues and I drafted this legislation and attended more meetings to secure the community’s support.

The public hearing for HB 1136 was this afternoon.

There was no opposition.