TOWSON, Md. — For the last three years, we here at WMAR have seen our next-door neighbors, St. Pius X School, sit empty. But in the near future, that could change.
On Thursday night, dozens of neighbors gathered at a meeting in Towson to talk about what they'd like to see happen with the former elementary-middle school.
Baltimore County is considering buying the school property from the Archdiocese of Baltimore. If it goes to the county, it could become a recreational space.
"They're very kid-centric communities," said Peter Dimitriades, a Rodgers Forge resident who works with the Towson Communities Alliance, "and we have such limited space where our kids can go."
Hundreds of students hustled into the school building every morning for school since the 1960s, but years of declining enrollment and financial strain—all made worse by the pandemic—caused it to close in 2021.
"I really think we need more green space. We need more ball fields and recreation space for our kids in the community," Dimitriades added.
"The thing about this space is - land like this does not come available in the central area of the county very often. And we really feel like this is the time to capitalize, to buy a piece of land that we truly need and will really help serve the community," said Mike Ertel, a Baltimore County Councilman whose district encompasses the St. Pius X property.
Ertel said the property would likely run in the ballpark of $4 million.
More places for sports are a welcome idea for the folks who run them; Stephen Giordani leads the Towson Rec Council and told WMAR because of its high registration numbers, it is often competing for fields outside the area.
"Similar to what Meadowood Regional Park has," Giordani said, "something like that. Where you have multiple fields, but you have the playgrounds for the kids, walking parks, jogging paths."
The property is zoned residential, but folks WMAR spoke with at the Thursday meeting would rather not see it become more places to live.
To this point, the parish beside the school is still open. But with a new plan by the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the fate of that church is in jeopardy.
READ MORE: A church's potential closure, and its impact on a Catholic community in Towson
