Perpetual Halloween at the Inner Harbor?

Baltimore was a leader in reclaiming downtrodden industrial waterfronts. It was an early adopter of the "festival marketplace" concept incarnated at Faneuil Hall in Boston. It has added attractions, one after the other, a National Aquarium, an extension to it, a science center and an extension to it, it has its own World Trade Center (as State property), it has converted a defunct Power Plant into an entertainment venue with a giant guitar on the roof (Hard Rock Cafe) it has added a splashy visitors center and extended the waterfront promenade for miles in each direct from point zero: Harborplace.

Yet, controversy keeps surrounding the tourist Mekka. Earlier this year the Baltimore Development Corporation requested proposals for "new attractions" and received proposals for zip lines, Ferris wheels and cable cars which were quickly ridiculed by local leaders. The Greater Baltimore Committee and the local architecture firm of Ayer Saint Gross countered the set of carnival ideas with a much more serious and sustainable approach and a couple of creative suggestions: A new footbridge traversing the water and a new design for Rash Field. It was not even clear yet how this tempest in the harbor pond would settle, then the next idea started cropping up: Placing the nationwide entertainment concern Ripleys (Trademark exhibit: "Odditorium") in one of the pavilions and drape Chessie over the entrance, or a sunken pirate ship, or both.

Original Proposal for Harbor Pavillion Defacement

The designs were presented by the Baltimore firm Brown Craig and Turner and reviewed by the Baltimore Urban Design and Architectural Review Panel (UDARP). They were not exactly received with enthusiasm but the panel did, incredibly, also not reject them outright. So the ship was deleted but the monster kept creeping over the well designed pavilion.

General Growth, the owner of the ever less well performing pavilions (they have vacancies, a long time an impossible thought) apparently is groping for a solution and is scraping the bottom in the process. The pavilions might need a make-over and they might need some serious re-thinking, but turning them into a gateway to carnival rides is not the right answer.

October submission to the Design Review Panel

Making the city facing rear sides more attractive, opening them up to the envisioned world class urban boulevard on Pratt Street, bringing in local merchandise that appeals to residents and tourists and enhances and complements the meager downtown retail mix, those would be better answers and more in keeping with a location that wants and needs to be Baltimore's "living room", or as architect David Benn put it in an editorial about the waterfront promenade, Baltimore's "Central Park." Either way, the placement of junk entertainment along the water's edge has run its course (Chicago's Navy Pier) and 21st century solutions are classier and better (Chicago's Centennial Park). As we know from the freedom of speech debates at the Inner Harbor, the area is subject to many controls and regulations. The areas around the pavilions are public parks and it should be not too hard to control excessive signs and adhere to the original spirit of the Inner Hrabor Masterplan which was based on celebrating the water. (see also my SUN op-ed, Best Theme: The Water from July  2011.)

October submission to the Design Review Panel

An article on the proposed Ripleys will be in tomorrows Sun Paper. See article in this Link.