Baltimore came a step closer today to getting a $6 million permanent train station at Camden Yards when the Maryland Stadium Authority agreed to help with design and construction.
The stadium authority board of directors voted to accept a request from the Maryland Transit Administration to participate in planning for the station, which serves MARC commuters between Baltimore and Washington.
The current station opened in 1992 as a “temporary” facility to provide a stop at Oriole Park, which opened that year. It consists of two prefab trailers covered by a space frame roof on the east side of the B & O Warehouse. But 25 years later, it has not been replaced.
In one of its last acts of support for Baltimore, the Obama administration allocated last fall $6 million in federal funds for a permanent MARC station at Camden Yards. Local officials say the next step is to draft a memorandum of understanding between local agencies outlining roles and responsibilities for completing the project.
“I am confident that [the Maryland Stadium Authority’s] participation in the design and construction of a rehabilitated MARC Camden Station will result in a facility which respects the history of the site, complements the architecture of the Camden Yards campus, and meet’s MTA’s mission to provide safe, efficient and reliable transportation,” MTA head Paul Comfort wrote to to the stadium authority board.
The new station is expected to open by 2019 or 2020.
