Select buildings in downtown Baltimore could soon be ablaze with lighted signs and digital billboards, following permission last month by the Baltimore City Council.
Within a new district created by ordinance, more than a dozen electronic signs could be located throughout downtown — displaying art installations and interactive gaming opportunities while generating revenue for arts and downtown programming. The scale of the new signage district, officials note, would not be akin to Times Square in New York City or the Vegas strip – but is modeled after successful programs in Denver and Atlanta.
“The concept is not to overwhelm the visual beauty that we already have here,” said Lauren Hamilton of the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore. “I think we all love Baltimore, the architecture and the views. It is not the intent of this initiative to change that at all.”
“Each sign location is going to be evaluated on its own merits,” said Councilman Eric Costello, who sponsored the ordinance and worked with the Downtown Partnership. “Does it conflict with the historical nature of the area? Does it conflict with traffic? Does it create a burden for residents in the immediate area?”
The new signage district – dubbed NoHa for “North Harbor” – is principally bounded by Baltimore Street to the North and largely by Howard Street to the West. It runs along Conway, Light and Pratt Streets to the South along the harbor until President Street to the East.
“The boundaries are important. There are residents within those boundaries and there are residents just outside of those boundaries, but they were thoughtfully created to have the least amount of impact on residents as possible.” Hamilton said. “They are in the core of the central business district where there is a lot of vitality, a lot of retail, theater, tourism and hotels.”
No signs in the new district will face residential buildings, according to Costello, who also sits on the planning commission which must approve the sign plan and permitting.
Like Domino Sugars
Officials say an advertisement program will bring needed life and “activation” to a downtown hit hard by vacancies amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, as well as provide an opportunity, both visually and financially to support the arts scene across the city.
“Baltimore is identified with iconic signage like Domino Sugars, like the Natty Bo man on Brewer’s Hill. What we’re talking about here is the programming that reveals Baltimore’s personality and allows that personality to come through,” said Downtown Partnership of Baltimore spokesperson Mike Evitts.
The proposal includes plans for services agreements between media companies and the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore stipulating that between 15 and 20 percent of sign time be used to feature public art, public service announcements and other nonprofit promotional information.
The agreements would also include a 5 percent revenue share between media companies and the group to reinvest in arts and other downtown programming.
David Ehrlich directs the Theatre District in Denver, where a similar program has existed for more than a decade. Ehrlich is also a consultant who has worked with proponents of the Baltimore project.
“This is not for every neighborhood,” he said. “It’s really for downtown. Downtown is a place for energy. And a lot of people move downtown for the energy.”
Part of the benefit of the district, he says, is the oversight that the services agreement between the neighborhood group and the media companies provides. It adds a layer of oversight and provides a venue for neighbors to be part of the approval process.
“I think what happens is people expect 25 signs on day one. And then there’s one sign and it’s well maintained. They look up and they see a bunch of local art, and they see content that is pretty cool.”
Ehrlich estimated it would take two to three years even to have a half dozen billboards in the district up and running. It could take another five for the district to be “fully functional,” which he described as between 10 and 15 signs.
“This is a multi-year investment, a multi-year rollout. People get used to it. People get more comfortable with it,” he said. “This takes years even once approved to build up and to generate a critical mass.”
Generating funds
The district includes the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and the convention center but also restaurants and residential buildings as well.
The Denver Theatre District has “given millions back to the art local community” with funding from the commercial sign revenue share, and even worked on a half-million dollar projection installation of the iconic D&F Tower in downtown Denver.
“We want to be an additional marketing and branding tool, but we’re not the sole purpose of the neighborhood. We bring light and activity,” he said. “When you step into the district, you see more art, you feel like you’re in the district, but you would also be going to a restaurant or a play or convention. It’s really an overlay on a downtown area.”
Similar sign programs are currently under development in San Jose and West Hollywood, Calif., according to Ehrlich. He also worked with the city of Atlanta on its nascent program.
In 2017, the Atlanta City Council approved a similar district allowing for special permitting of digital signs. This process is the only way to permit a new sign or upgrade a sign in downtown Atlanta, according to Fredalyn Frasier, a project manager at Central Atlanta Progress.
“Tough to be excited”
The program in Atlanta’s downtown arts and entertainment district is managed by the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District. The enabling ordinance allows for 25 locations for lighted signs and LED billboards. The district permits the signs. Each location often has more than one sign or billboard, according to Frasier.
Similar to the proposal in Baltimore, media companies operating in Atlanta run a time and a profit share program managed by the improvement district.
“Our emphasis has been on being able to use these signs to elevate our artistic community,” she said, adding that the signs allow for the district to provide funding for performance, dance and theater as well as showcase local and regional art on signs within the district, creating what Frasier suggested was an “outdoor gallery.”
And the commercial ads, that makes the public service and artistic content possible, is becoming more artistic itself, she said.
“As the district evolved, we’re attracting more artistic content. When you look at your traditional billboards along the highways, we’re seeing a progression of the content that’s being displayed,” Frasier said. “It may be the same advertiser, but they elevated how that’s presented in a more artistic way. It’s interesting to see that commercial content is also evolving and becoming more artistic.”
Of the 25 locations approved by the 2017 ordinance, only nine are currently up or in the works.
Not all Atlantans were thrilled about the new addition to the neighborhood. Kelly Parry, 32, said that she sometimes feels overwhelmed by the advertising while walking around the neighborhood.
Parry, who works in the public sector, noted that she’s supportive of the arts program component, but was leery of the concept as a “vibrancy project.”
“For those of us who live downtown, honestly the brightness of a sign often makes the street with no people on it feel more desolate and sad, like an old abandoned mall,” she said. “It’s tough to be excited about an LED sign when the streetlights themselves are out. Can we just do the basics for my neighborhood?”
Costello said that he hopes the new NoHa district is a “shot in the arm” for downtown Baltimore.
He noted it’s just one of several initiatives aiming to bring more life and vibrancy to the area as city officials struggle to redefine what a central business district could look like and get creative supporting downtown.
The Planning Commission will meet to review a draft sign plan; a date for that meeting is not yet set, but Costello said it will likely happen later in November.
The Downtown Partnership is hosting a series of community meetings with residents of buildings within the area, and a public meeting is scheduled for Nov. 10.
