Are you pro- or anti-Hilton?
August 1, 2008
When construction began on the city-owned Hilton Convention Center Hotel two years ago, not everyone was gung ho about the new luxury venue.
Street vendors outside Camden Yards were forced to move their stands farther away from the ballpark, fans grumbled about the changed skyline view from the Oriole Park seats and the Orioles sued the city, claiming that hotel construction just outside the main entrance to Camden Yards created “an intolerable hazard for hundreds of thousands of pedestrians” by forcing them into narrow pathways or streets with heavy traffic.
The Orioles dropped the lawsuit soon after, when the two sides agreed that a 25-foot-wide covered walkway would be built next to the construction site on Howard Street to help with pedestrian traffic. But the team still remains tight-lipped on the issue, declining to comment this week on the Hilton Hotel’s completion.
But others around the sports complex are eagerly awaiting the boon they expect the hotel’s presence to bring. A spokeswoman for the Maryland Stadium Authority called the Hilton “our new best friend,” and Michael L. Gibbons, executive director of the Sports Legends Museum, said he’s “downright excited” about the possibilities the Hilton will create for the area and for the museum’s attendance.
“It will create casual pedestrian traffic, more unprecedented than anything we’ve seen around here on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “It will rival what we see on game days.”
The Hilton, which changed Oriole Park fan views of the historic Bromo Seltzer Tower to one that has been referred to by many as an eyesore, has also had some engineering adjustments to help it better fit in with its surrounding area. Designers have matched the brick at the base of the complex and the granite walkway stones to that of Camden Yards’ and have created a sightline from the convention center light rail stop that focuses riders on the ballpark entrance.
Do you think more should have been done to preserve the original view at the ballpark, or does the new hotel give Baltimore more than it takes away? Or do you absolutely hate it and nothing can be done to change your mind?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
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it’s a hideous monstrosity, but that’s what you get when politics and PC are involved. If Robert L. Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television had proposed the Westin Hotel with the arena it would have been a slam dunk. Unfortunately, in my opinion the city had no intentions of choosing another proposal they just had to go through the motions. The fact that Mr. Johnson’s proposal was/is inferior and not in the best interest of the city had no bearing. But again that is just my opinion. Now we are stuck with that ugly POS!!!!! The city leaders should be proud!