Baltimore chapter of American Institute of Architects to hold panel discussion about history and future of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor

With redevelopment plans for Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in the news and coming up for a vote on the city ballot in November, the Baltimore chapter of the American Institute of Architects is holding a panel discussion about the history and future of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor on May 8 at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, 202 E. Pratt St.

But the format for this meeting will be different from the community engagement sessions organized by MCB Real Estate, the development company that unveiled a $500 million plan last fall to replace the two Harborplace pavilions at Pratt and Light streets with a mixed-use project consisting of two residential towers containing a total of 900 apartments; offices; shops; restaurants and public space, including a two-tier waterfront promenade and a green space called The Park at Freedom’s Port.

Instead of inviting presenters from MCB or the Mayor’s office, the AIA’s Urban Design Committee has invited six speakers who are experts in various facets of urban planning and waterfront development but who aren’t part of MCB’s development team and don’t currently work for Baltimore City government

And instead of asking the panelists to talk about the pros and cons of MCB’s preliminary design for Harborplace, they want the experts to discuss the Inner Harbor as a public space, “how it can best attract residents and visitors,” and what steps the public and private sectors should be taking to make it better.

The program is called “Inner Harbor 2024 – A City Planning Conversation.” According to the AIA, it will be one part panel lecture and one part discussion between the panelists and the audience, including a Question and Answer period.

“The event is not a design critique on the proposed development and instead will discuss the role of public space and private development in a public space,” the AIA stated in an announcement about the program.

In keeping with that focus, the discussion has been organized to provide “professional information about the Inner Harbor” in light of the current strong public interest in it and the public referendum in November, the AIA states. Panelists will include experts in the fields of architecture and urban design; economics, environmental resilience; landscape architecture and transportation planning.

“Each panelist will briefly investigate the relevant history and facts that pertain to the topic, suggest how they may influence design strategies and solutions, cite potential precedents, and propose some guiding principles and metrics with which design strategies and solutions can be evaluated.,” the AIA states. “This will be followed by a moderator-guided discussion among the panelists to help the audience digest and relate to everything that has been presented. The format then transitions into a moderator-guided audience Q&A session with the panelists. Finally, the moderator will summarize the night’s discussions to close the event.”

Other topics to be covered include: an analysis of relevant local and non-local waterfront history, precedents and facts, and the proposed Baltimore City Charter amendment pertaining to the Inner Harbor and how voters are involved. 

As outlined in City Council Bill 23-0444, city voters will be asked in November to approve a City Charter amendment that would increase the amount of city-owned land at Pratt and Light streets that can be controlled by a private developer, from 3.2 acres to 4.5 acres. The council has also been asked to change zoning and height limits to permit high-rise residential development where the low-rise pavilions are now. 

Klaus Philipsen, one of the organizers of the AIA event, said in an email message that the Urban Design Committee doesn’t want the May 8 discussion to be about MCB’s specific design, which was unveiled on Oct. 30. MCB’s plan has been the focus of previous community forums at the Maryland Science Center; Coppin State University; the Middle Branch Fitness and Wellness Center and the National Federation of the Blind headquarters, as well as a lengthy hearing at City Hall.

“We don’t want to discuss their design but discuss history, precedents, issues and metrics that would normally be discussed BEFORE arriving at any design,” Philipsen said in his message. “We feel that the discussion about the design distracts from many important issues, for example how private and public can enhance each other in waterfront development and what the right balance is.”

The moderator will be Otis Rolley, Planning Director in Baltimore from 2003 to 2007 and chief of staff for former Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon. He is now Managing Director for Economic Resilience and Operations with the U. S. Jobs and Economic Opportunity Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation.

The panelists will include Amber Wendland, an associate principal at Ayers Saint Gross, as the Architecture/Urban Design panelist and Barbara Wilks, founding principal of W Architecture and Landscape Architecture in Brooklyn; member of the Board of Advisors at the Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology, and former partner of Cho, Wilks and Benn in Baltimore, as the Landscape Architecture panelist.

Also; Stephen Walters, chief economist at the Maryland Public Policy Institute and author of Boom Towns: Restoring the Urban American Dream; as the economics expert on the panel; Peter May, a scientist, ecological engineer and University of Maryland faculty member, as the ecological engineer on the panel; and Erwin Andres, vice president and senior principal of Gorove Slade Transportation Planners and Engineers in Fairfax, Virginia, as the panel’s transportation expert.

May 14 is the date of the primary election in Baltimore City and November 5 is the date of the general election, including the referendum on Harborplace. The AIA’s panel discussion is scheduled to run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will be free and open to the public.