Baltimore Skyline

Finally we have some major support for the LRT alternative for the Red Line. The Baltimore Sun reported today that The Greater Baltimore Committee, a regional action group made up of Baltimore business and civic leaders, is backing light rail option because they see it as the best option. Donald Fry the president of GBC said in a post on their website that this is exactly what Baltimore needs: “A quality east-west light rail route that connects with our existing Metro, MARC, and light rail would transform Baltimore’s current transit hodge-podge into an integrated regional rail system.” The GBC is specifically backing the 4C alternative (details at http://www.baltimoreredline.com/ ), which would include a tunnel under Cooks Lane in West Baltimore and a tunnel under downtown and Fells Point. It would be integrated to the Light Rail at Lexington Market and the Metro Subway at Charles Center. I've been promoting this idea for a long time now, ever since I first heard about the Red Line...

Good Grief. Thus ends another depressing season of Orioles baseball. A 10-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays brought the official season total to 68-93, a winning percentage of .422. That was good enough for 28.5 games behind and the second-worst team in the American League (thank you Seattle). That makes 11 consecutive losing seasons for the Birds, how much longer can this go? Once again there was a disappointing end to a season that started off with a lot of promise. As a rebuilding season the O's dumped Miguel Tejada and Eric Bedard, while picking up Luke Scott (and his dynamite bat) and George Sherrill. However, the one pitched the O's hoped would be the back bone of the rotation, Adam Loewen, ended his career as a pitcher because of injury. The Orioles had a lot of electricity and enthusiasm, but that will only carry you so much when the powers that be in the front office won't spend the dough to bolster the roster. While the team batting average was 8th in the AL (and 10...

Phillies are the 2008 NL East Division Champions! Wow, what a crazy home stretch in the National League East. The Phillies pulled off their second NL East Division championship in as many years. The last time the Phillies went to the playoffs two years in a row Ronald Reagan was in his first year of office, and the last time they won the Divison back to back was 1976-1977 (and won a third in '78) Wow. It got dicey at the end of the game, and I thought it would go down to the last game of the season once again, but we pulled it off! Top of the 9 th , 1 out, bases loaded, with Brad Lidge on the mound. Lidge , who has been perfect in save attempts this year, gave a low slider to Ryan Zimmerman who rocketed it up the infield. A diving Jimmy Rollings stopped it, flipped it to Chase Utley who launched it to Ryan Howard for the 6-4-3 Double Play...In...the...bag. Bring on some October baseball! Watching the results of the Mets and Brewers today to see who we get to play in the N...

The first of probably many Baltimore Skyline Roadtrips brings us to New Haven, CT. Just a quick 4 hour Amtrak trip up the NorthEast Corridor and here we are. Nothing like catching a 5:45am train out of Baltimore in the rain, in the dark, to travel up North, on a Friday...for work. Ah, New Haven, Home of Yale University, and our focal point of this blog- New Haven Union Station. Union Station was built in 1918 and officially opened in 1920. It was designed by Cass Gilbert, a pioneering architect from the early 20 th century, he is most well known for the Woolworth Building in New York, but hey, he designed a pretty nice train station here in New Haven. Saved from the wrecking ball in the 1970s it was revamped and reopened by Amtrak and Metro North. The most striking feature of the building has to be the Main Hall. It's coffer ceiling is reminiscent of Philadelphia's 30 th Street, but is more the size of our own Baltimore Penn Station (the Tiffany glass and sky lights of B...

Welcome to Autumn my friends, or as we like to call here in Balmer , Winter: Part 1. So far the meteorologists over at the Weather Channel are predicting pleasant temperatures through the beginning of October, but it's only a matter of time until it gets cold! Continuing on the Free theme here at Baltimore Skyline , Fall brings another great thing to mind...Free Fall Baltimore! Now in its 3rd year, Free Fall Baltimore brings you great arts and cultural activities and events for free during the entire month of October, so starting next Wednesday put your wallets away and prepare to enjoy some free stuff. There are events for everyone, as well as some tailored just for children and families. The BMA will be doing workshops, MICA will be hosting its Maryland Film Festival on Tuesdays, and Center Stage will have a showing of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Right up the alley for all of you aspiring city planners and urban historical, Baltimore Heritage will be giving a free lectu...

T-minus 3 hours until we can unshackle ourselves from the Prison that is work! There is much to do in Baltimore this weekend. A great resource is Baltimore for Less. Get the news on what's exciting in Baltimore, but won't break the bank! http://www.baltimore.org/moreforless/ Check out the Fresh Farm Market on Lancaster Street in Harbor East on Saturday from 9am-1pm. It's running until October 25th, so you still have plenty of time to stock up on fresh veggies and fruits. The Maryland Renaissance Festival continues in Annapolis at the Crownsville Fairgrounds. See some josting, eat some mutton, drink some beer, and don't forget Hilby - the German Juggle Boy...whatever that means. http://www.rennfest.com/ Sunday the Ravens take on the Browns at home at 4:15pm. Start your tailgatin'

When most Baltimoreons look at the Baltimore Skyline they invariably see the second tallest, but in my opinion, the most striking building in this city - the Bank of America Building. Its golden cap radiates in the the daytime and glows at night, as a beacon of light drawing your view into downtown. When walking on the street one can't help but look up as its brick facade gives way to white motif pilasters and arches on the setback upper floors. A green shingle and polished copper temple caps the mighty work of 1920s architecture. Once the largest building in Baltimore, the Baltimore Trust Building, as it was first known, was finished in 1929 on the eve of the Great Depression. Designed by the architectural firms of Taylor & Fisher and Smith & May, it was Baltimore's first modern setback skyscraper. Standing high above the corner of Light and Baltimore Streets, it reaches 509 feet into the air. A mix of Art-Deco and Gothic elements make for a strikingly unique bui...

Another wonderful day in Baltimore. Keeping it a short post today, just a quick update to tickle your fancy and keep you wanting for more. Quick recap of the weekend: Defenders Day, some rain, some sun, lot's of fireworks, the Gov, the Mayor, reenactors, cannon fire, music, food, and fun! If you missed the action at Fort McHenry you'll have to wait another year. Let's try to make this city holiday thrive again! We have glass at Hopkins! That's right after 2 years of steel, and now brick, we have glass going up! The front facade of the Children's Tower is going to be a 12-story curving wall of multi-coloroed glass panels. Looks very interesting, it should be nice to see when it's all done. Not sure if the rest of the hospital building will carry this motif, but it's a nice addition for the kids. Enjoy your night Baltimore! Let's go O's! Hump day tomorrow.

Seriously there is only one thing you should all do this weekend and it's the Star-Spangled Weekend at Fort McHenry. It is the celebration of Defenders Day, the (sadly) little known state holiday in Maryland that commemorates the successful defense of Baltimore and Fort McHenry from a British attack on September 12,13,14, 1814. What the Brits attacked Baltimore? YES! Read your history books people! Anyways, starting Friday there will be a parade from Little Italy to the Flag House and then to the Inner Harbor. Afterwards the parade will move through Tide Point to Locust Point and ending at Fort McHenry. There will be events all day Saturday with living historians (reenactors) and then a large concert and fireworks display at dusk. So head down to the Fort and bring your copy of the Star Spangled Banner, and an umbrella since there is a chance of showers, and help bring back an old holiday! http://www.nps.gov/fomc/parknews/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&PageID...

The Committee on Historical and Architectural Preservation is meeting today to discuss the fate of the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre at Charles Center. Preservationists seek to put the architecturally unique (yet unaesthetically pleasing) structure on the Baltimore City Landmark list. Developers David S. Brown Enterprises LTD seeks to renovated and incorporate the theatre into a new 30-story mixed used facilities with retail on the lower levels. They hope to utilize much of the existing structure without damaging it or hurting the significance of it. Preservationists don’t fully agree and hope to stop the proposal in its tracks. Now, I’m all up for preserving historic buildings, but it may start a bad precedent. Blocking this proposal could feasible kill any future attempt to do anything at that site. The Mechanic sits on some prime real estate at Charles Center, smack in the middle of the Central BD. The Mechanic is no Hippodrome, neither in capacity or looks. Sure the Mechanic is unique...

What's the deal with the Red Line? After the hype about Mayor Dixon's Red Line Summit at the Convention Center back in May there seems to be a lack of reporting on the issue. The website for the project hasn't been updated since April when the proposed alignment was shifted to include Johns Hopkins Bayview and Canton Crossing. http://www.baltimoreregiontransitplan.com/ As a Fells Point resident I am deeply interested in the progress of this transit project. I think the prospect of being able to get downtown, or to Canton, by way of something other than driving, cabbing, or walking would be great. The Metro Subway can get you atleast downtown, but for us in Fells Point we have to walk up to Hopkins Hospital to grab it. For those living in Canton it's not an option. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of this and public transit in general, we all know Baltimore needs a fire lit under it for better, more effective, and more diverse transit option. Seriously, the MTA an...

Hello Charm City! This is a new blog dedicated to the goings on in Baltimore. The construction, the development, the new, the old, the refurbished, the proposed! Even though the economy is strugging, gas prices are high, and the real estate bubble burst, it seems that things are still chugging along in Baltimore. New condos on Key Highway (with more to come), new Hospital wings going up at Johns Hopkins, the EBDI helping to rebuild and stabilize East Baltimore, and the Legg Mason Tower and Four Seasons Residences are growing down in Harbor East. There is a lot to be proud of here, and there is a lot going on! Now I have to give credit where credit is due. This isn't a new concept. I do take my influence froma great blog up in Philadelphia, my hometown (go phillies)! Brad Maule of phillyskyline.com has been updating the denizens of Philly for many years of what's going on up there, mostly by daily posts on construction and developments around the city. So I would like to thank B...