"The Bake" is back

The first skaters to return to the rink on Pennsylvania Avenue in the Upton community are giving it rave reviews.

"It's so amazing, because I like how it's bigger and it has more decorations," said 10-year-old Brooke Green.

"At first, I didn't know that it was closing, but when I heard that it was closing I was wondering, 'Why?'" added Kamia Davis who is 14.

It is the same question Mayor Catherine Pugh heard over and over again as word spread that the neighborhood's primary activity center had closed its doors.

"When I shut it down, you would have thought I'd shut down heaven, and I said that, 'I'm sorry'," said Pugh, “The roof was falling in, Glenn.  The floor was buckled.  You were hard pressed to find matching skates in here.  The concession stands didn't work."

But a quarter of a million dollars’ worth of improvements have changed the face of the center, which draws its name from its founder, former Baltimore Colts receiver Glenn "Shake and Bake" Doughty.

"When you're talking about athletes who are protesting?  We weren't protesting in 1982.  We were building this, because we didn't just talk.  We got it done," said Doughty.
    
And 35 years after it first opened, the center no longer looks its age.

"It doesn't have like bad vibes, cause sometimes it had bad vibes for me,” said 11-year-old Kennedy Davis, “A lot of people can come here and chill out, skate and have fun."

"It's better like this,” added 12-year-old Parris Green, “It's way different now.  It was kind of the same, but smaller."

"You all better come and see what's happening at Shake and Bake cause the oven is up!” shouted Doughty, “Make no mistake.  It's time to Shake and Bake!"