Rodricks: A company’s donation makes room — lots of room — for a West Baltimore dream

The Rev. Rodney Hudson knew what he wanted. He wanted the asphalt lot at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Baker Street in West Baltimore. If he could acquire that empty space from the company that owned it, Hudson would have the launchpad for his dream. The pastor of Ames United Methodist Church, a block away, Hudson had already acquired two large, grassy parcels along Baker Street for the Resurrection Sandtown Project, a faith-based mission to redevelop a long-neglected stretch of West Baltimore.