It is a community of sorts, a 1.3-mile perimeter around a scenic lake, a place where on a late Sunday morning a professional-looking bicyclist breezes by a man jogging in Timberlands, who smiles at a woman power walking, a woman who he may or may not know.
Such is the allure of Lake Montebello, the regulars say, a rare oasis of greenery, calm and security in a city that can at times feel like grit and brick.
And so the news that, beginning today, the Northeast Baltimore attraction will be closed for at least five months - with half of the loop shut for about three years - did not exactly sit well. The cause: a long-awaited dredging project that has regulars unhappy that they're losing their jewel just in time for the summer and fearing that when half of it reopens, it will transform into a congested circus.
"What?" exclaimed Chris Jackson, 50, of Waverly, stopping abruptly as she strolled around the lake yesterday morning. "I never heard that. That is a shame. This is a hallmark for the community. There's a camaraderie with the people who come here. It's exercise and sunshine, and you don't have to feel like you're in Bally's."
None of about a dozen people interviewed there yesterday was aware of the imminent closure of the lake, sandwiched between Harford and Hillen roads.
But city officials say they mailed 6,000 letters within the past month to nearby residents, announcing that the three-year dredging project was to begin soon, although it did not specify a date.
Furthermore, city officials have been meeting with community leaders and formed a citizens committee to work out the logistics of the closure, said Bob Murrow, a public works spokesman.
"We made a very special effort to alert the community," Murrow said. "I'm not surprised that some people don't know. I'm sure there are users of the lake that may not have gotten the word because they don't necessarily live in the communities surrounding the lake."
The lake is the site of a city filtration facility that supplies drinking water to city and suburban residents. The dredging project will remove about 42,000 dry tons of residual sludge, the byproduct of chemically treating the water.
Removing it will protect Herring Run and the Chesapeake Bay from the discharge of water plant residuals, public works officials say.
The project involves closing the two pedestrian lanes on Curran Drive, on the south side of the lake, for five months while storm drain, fence and shoreline work takes place. The outer lane will remain open for eastbound vehicle traffic. Meanwhile, the two lanes of pedestrian traffic on Whitman Drive, on the north side of the lake, will remain closed for two years and nine months.
After Curran Drive reopens, pedestrians will have about half of the loop to use. During the last three months of the project, pedestrians will be able to use Whitman Drive while Curran Drive is being repaved.
City officials say the result will be a cleaner lake and improved recreation area.
But for park users, the idea of having to scout around for an alternative for at least five months, and possibly three years, is not appealing.
There are few alternatives, they say. None is as close. Druid Hill Park is not as safe, many said. And a half-loop won't do for avid bicyclists, like Rick Thomas, a 52-year-old Hampden resident who whips around the loop about 20 times per visit.
Tim Wilson, president of the Ednor Gardens-Lakeside Civic Association, was one of the community leaders involved in the meetings with city officials.
"We're not happy about it," said Wilson, 64. "But it's something that has to be done. We'll just be glad when it reopens.
"I guess I'm going to the Y," he added unenthusiastically. "But it's still not like having Montebello. You meet friends out there, people you haven't seen for a while. The whole ambience. There's just nothing like it."
