A well-designed Harborplace could become the crown jewel in a ring around our Inner Harbor. Considering it as simply a 4.5 acre plot ready for redevelopment is missing the point (“A playground for the privileged? Baltimore fans dissect the latest Harborplace proposal,” Nov. 1).
In a Feb. 27, 1995, article in The Baltimore Sun, Edward Gunts reported on ideas for a 300-space parking garage beneath Rash Field (“Underground garage proposed for Rash Field”). The Design Collective of Baltimore and Martha Schwartz Inc. of Boston won a 1994 competition to redesign the Inner Harbor shoreline. It didn’t happen.
Can we reconsider that proposal and include underground parking for Harborplace?
Chicago’s Millenium Park is a prime example of what our future could hold. Its wide open space provides room for festivals, concerts, recreation, public art and more. It has easy access to existing museums, sports venues, convention facilities and lodging. City and suburban residents come in because it has safe, well-designed parking conveniently just steps away.
Let’s preserve this precious last spot of open space in the Inner Harbor for those purposes. Let’s provide venues for shopping and dining, let’s provide better, faster water taxis to get to other great neighborhoods on our waterfront. Let’s get ready for the time when we can paddle and swim in our own Inner Harbor.
According to a May 26, 2022, article in the Chicago Sun Times, “the four underground city-owned parking garages took in $22 million last year, up 35.8% from the $16.2 million made in 2020.”
David Bramble, look down, not up.
— Carolyn Sutton, Baltimore
