Expanded Tiber Park is an expanded open space in Ellicott City, resulting from the deconstruction of four buildings along lower Main Street as part of the EC Safe and Sound Flood Mitigation Plan. Tiber Park was conceptualized in the Ellicott City Watershed Master Plan. The focus of this project is to further refine the design, in coordination with the Maryland Avenue Culverts project. The new Expanded Tiber Park will be implemented following the completion of the Maryland Avenue culverts.
Tiber Park was originally constructed on a vacant lot, acquired by Howard County after the structure was destroyed in a fire. It opened to the public in the early 1990s. The existing pedestrian bridge, trees, brick paving and fencing were installed at that time. In 2024, upon the completion of deconstruction of four buildings, an interim expansion was implemented, including additional paving areas, turf, planters and tables, allowing for flexible uses while planning for the Expanded Tiber Park project is ongoing.
The expanded open space will offer multiple vistas of the Tiber Branch; provide multiple flexible gathering spaces extending off Main Street, Maryland Avenue and Tiber Alley; and allow for emergency access to buildings along Tiber Alley. A new pedestrian bridge will be provided at a raised elevation while offering vistas up and down the Tiber Branch. Because the new bridge is raised, it will require steps. The design provides for an accessible sloped walk on the Tiber Alley side of the bridge, allowing people with disabilities the opportunity to access the bridge and its views but not traverse the bridge. The proposed design maximizes gathering spaces and preserves one of the existing trees on the Main Street side of the park.
Park elements are anticipated to utilize materials, furnishings, and lighting matching and/or compatible with existing elements in the Historic District. These include brick and cobble paving, stone walls, black metal fences/railings, wood and metal benches, and traditional light fixtures. Native plant materials including new shade trees and low ground-level plantings within planter beds or stormwater management facilities will delineate spaces and provide structure and shade. Elements of the buildings removed will be incorporated into the park design and may be used as steps, low planter walls, and pavement markings interpreting the former buildings that once stood on the site. Similarly, cobbles salvaged from Tiber Alley may be reused in parts of the alley that remain and/or within the stream bed as part of the Maryland Avenue culvert project.
Additional elements include park identification signage, public art, and interpretive signage highlighting site and Ellicott City history, its vulnerabilities to flooding, and ongoing flood mitigation efforts.
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