TURNER STATION, Md. — Allen Smith discovered his perfect spot when he moved to Turner Station a few months ago.
WATCH: New public fishing pier in Turner Station
The new fishing pier at Fleming Park offers everything he loves about the waterfront community.
“It’s beautiful,” he says. “It’s pretty. It’s pretty in the daytime. It’s even prettier at night. Especially at this pier here because you have lights that’s all over there, and it looks like Christmas.”
For nearly 50 years, an old loading dock sat here. A forgotten relic from the construction of the 695 connector to the Key Bridge.
Generations of residents like Olivia Lomax turned it into an informal fishing spot.
“So many of our neighbors and friends that come here to fish and crab,” Lomax says. “Which is something that I’ve done since I was a little girl. And my children and grandchildren also enjoy.”
However, it became a safety hazard, and the county closed off the area a couple of years ago.
Lomax was among those who rallied for a new fishing pier.
“We were able to petition to Baltimore County recs and parks that this is a needed thing for our community,” Lomax says. “Before someone gets hurts. Before a child drowns or gets swept away on a beat-up pier.”
The new pier is more than just a place to fish. It’s part of an environmental shoreline restoration project decades in the making.
“Bear Creek is a superfund site which is being cleaned up by the EPA,” says Gloria Nelson, president of the Turner Station Conservation Teams. “Which this is part of Bear Creek behind me, has been contaminated, and they have money to clean it up so residents will be able to fish in a cleaner environment.”
Former county executive Johnny Olszewski allocated funds for the project, which includes a new walking trail and native plants.
For the people who live here, it’s more than just a pier. It’s a symbol of the community’s persistence and progress.
