Can the city support an NBA or NHL team?
July 24, 2008
After today’s announcement that Baltimore officials want a downtown arena big enough accommodate a professional franchise, the next obvious question is: Who could fill that order, and can Baltimore really support an NBA or NHL team?
It’s been 35 years since the Bullets headed down I-95 to play in the Washington area (where they became the Wizards in 1997) and Baltimore hasn’t even had a whiff of getting a pro basketball team since. Sure, the Seattle Sonics were available earlier this year, but Baltimore was never a legitimate contender to get them. (The Sonics’ new home, Oklahoma City, was announced this month).
And the idea of Baltimore supporting a professional hockey team, especially when the area’s handful of hockey fans can go to D.C. or Philadelphia to watch a game, seems even more unrealistic (see comments here).
Even the city’s professional baseball team has been struggling to draw crowds for the past few years as excitement over the new ballpark has faded and the reality of a mediocre ball club has set in. The Orioles are a perfect case in point: when teams do well, more people come to their games. A few weeks before the All-Star break, the team was playing above-.500 ball and Camden Yards was attracting more people than it had in recent years.
Today the team is 10.5 games out of first place in the American League East, sits three games below .500 and is 7-11 in the month of July. In the last four weeks, attendance at Oriole Park has dropped by an average of 2,000 per night.
So while a new franchise might draw sellout crowds the first few years, after the excitement wears off where will Baltimore stand? If the team isn’t any good, evidence so far points to all but the hardcore fans in this city being pretty indifferent about watching a lousy team in person. (The Ravens, of course, are the grand exception to that — despite a 5-11 season last year M&T Bank Stadium was packed for every game.)
And while it should be noted that an 18,500-seat arena might be easier to fill up than a ballpark that seats more than 48,000, do you think Baltimore could really support a professional hockey or basketball team?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentReservoir run dry
July 22, 2008
The Washington Post led its business section today with a front-page story about the foreclosure crisis and how it affects gentrifying urban neighborhoods like Baltimore’s Reservoir Hill. The article centers on a debate in Congress over $4 billion in emergency aid to bail out homeowners such as those in the central Baltimore neighborhood, whose investments presumably would have changed the area for the better.
Baltimore Housing commissioner Paul Graziano is quoted criticizing the current presidential administration, saying, “They don’t understand the market dynamics here at all…We can let the market adjust and see the last seven or eight years of investment go down the tubes. Or we can intervene now to reclaim this inventory and protect these neighborhoods.” Read more
Sphere: Related ContentMultimedia: Businesses discuss Artscape’s impact
July 17, 2008
There is no doubt that Artscape provides an opportunity for increased revenue for some local businesses. With the extension of the festival this year to the 1700 block of N. Charles St., more businesses could reap the benefits of the large crowds on hand. Most businesspeople we spoke to there are optimistic about their involvement this year.
Not everyone is looking forward to Artscape, though. While the influx of people may help some businesses, others may find their regular patrons are avoiding the jam-packed area.
And the price of Artscape is not just economic. At the Sales Gallery, we spoke with Ricki Rutley, a longtime resident of Bolton Hill. Although she acknowledges the festival’s positive impact on Baltimore, she and her neighbors have been inconvenienced in the past. She’s had her tires slashed and her car keyed. She said that visitors cram into the parking spaces in Bolton Hill, knowing full well that they will be ticketed. People in her community, she says, even plan a vacation during the stretch of Artscape.
Personally, we think that what Artscape has to offer is worth the hectic, headache-inducing weekend. Annie Gray of Sofi’s Crepes seemed to agree when she told us, “It’s going to be crazy. We’re going to be working nonstop. We’re really looking forward to it. It’s…going to bring a lot of people in and a lot of newcomers who haven’t been here before.”
Watch the videos below to see what some business owners had to say.
RICHARD SIMON and QUINN STRUKE
Flesh-and-blood in federal court
July 16, 2008
Washington Monthly has a great piece about four Baltimore men in federal court on murder and drug charges. These four men, who are black, are using a tactic that has been called “the flesh-and-blood defense,” usually associated with white supremacist anti-government folks.
From the story:
Judge Davis ordered the three defendants to be removed from the court, and turned to Gardner, who had, until then, remained quiet. But Gardner, too, intoned the same strange speech. “I am Shawn Earl Gardner, live man, flesh and blood,” he proclaimed. Every time the judge referred to him as “the defendant” or “Mr. Gardner,” Gardner automatically interrupted: “My name is Shawn Earl Gardner, sir.”
Davis tried to explain to Gardner that his behavior was putting his chances of acquittal or leniency at risk. “Don’t throw your life away,” Davis pleaded. But Gardner wouldn’t stop. Judge Davis concluded the hearing, determined to find out what was going on.
It’s a pretty lengthy piece but definitely worth a read for all you law wonks.
CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentBeware of underground fires
July 15, 2008
TDR Photographer Max Franz got his shot yesterday around 5:30p.m., when a manhole cover on Charles St. just north of Saratoga St. blew.
Luckily for me, I was at a workshop in Northern Virginia yesterday and escaped most of the underground-fire incident. My coworker shared some of the details this morning on our way to work.
Charles Street was still closed north of Saratoga this morning, but we took an impromptu tour of Baltimore City and found our way to the parking garage unscathed.
According to BG&E, all of the power should be flowing again to downtown businesses/residents by this afternoon.
How did the road closures and loss of power affect your workday yesterday? This morning?
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentThe two Baltimores
June 30, 2008
While walking up Saratoga Street last week, returning to our newsroom after grabbing a cold drink, I came across the polar realities of what I like to think of as the two Baltimores.
On my side of the street, a hunched-over figure was zigzagging his way toward me. As I got closer, I could see his eyes were barely cracked, his mouth hanging open. Having the unfortunate experience of almost losing two friends to heroin, I recognized the zombified state this man was in.
While sidestepping him as he almost fell into me, I couldn’t help but notice the streetscape on the other side of Saratoga. The usual smokers on the corner of St. Paul and Saratoga, chatting away with each other and on their cell phones. A jogger with her iPod on making her way past two businessmen in suits and ties, iced coffees in hand.
When I come face to face with the two worlds mentioned above and I think of the color scheme that plays out in some crumbling city schools, I wonder has this city made that much progress when it comes to desegregation and race relations? Are we sidestepping the racial fault lines that exist between us just as I sidestepped the drug addict stumbling down Saratoga?
No matter how many new high rises enter the bustling city skyline, and no matter how many new bioparks sprout up from the asphalt, the daily struggle for survival that some of the less fortunate go through will not go away despite those of us that are blinded by our own comforts. A life taken on Monroe Street should cause the same outcry that a life taken in Federal Hill or Canton would, regardless of race, gender or age.
Am I the only one who doesn’t think that’s always the case?
Francis Smith, Special Publications Assistant Editor
Sphere: Related ContentMore from the architect of the Schaefer Tower
June 20, 2008
J. Robert Hillier, of the Princeton, N.J.-based architecture firm RMJM Hillier, spoke to The Daily Record about some of his thinking when he designed the William Donald Schaefer Tower (then called the Merritt Tower) in the 1980s. He was nice enough to send us some pictures to illustrate his points.
You can also check out some other buildings his firm has done here.
At top is a picture of a South Korean building with “slash” windows. It’s more recent than the Schaefer Tower, but Hillier said he explored this concept early in the planning process for the Baltimore building.
Bottom left is a building called the Unistructure Hillier designed at Bryant University in Rhode Island. He said this, along with a brown, mirrored home he designed in Princeton, helped lead up to his use of reflective glass at the Schaefer tower.
There was a slowdown in skyscraper construction into the 1990s, so Hillier said the Schaefer Tower was the last he designed until he began work on the LVMH Moet Hennessy – Louis Vuitton building in 1996.
He said the Schaefer Tower, at least at street level, has elements of the Postmodern style of architecture, using classical elements such as columns in the front, but in a new way.
“People were kind of deferring to older architecture with designs that were reminiscent of the old architecture, but not actually direct copies,” Hillier said.
ANDY ROSEN, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentPride of Baltimore or fluff?
June 19, 2008
In their effort to beef up the local flavor of what at times can appear to be a modern-day traveling circus, the AST Dew Tour announced today it would be awarding another prize at the close of the four-day, action sports event: The Pride of Baltimore award.
The award winner will be determined by a three-person panel of media members from The (Baltimore) Sun, the Examiner and WBAL (note the absence of a certain newspaper here, but I suppose we’ll let it slide). The judges will be looking for the athlete who best represents his sport and who gives the best overall performance during the weekend.
“We’re always trying to make sure we can localize the event,” said AST president Wade Martin after the conference. “We don’t want to be an event that comes through town for a weekend, does its thing and then just shows up again the next year.”
Named for the Baltimore Clipper that sails around the world promoting Maryland tourism, the award’s prize package includes Baltimore goodies like a two-night stay in a Hyatt Regency luxury suite, a treatment at the Pearl Spa in Fulton, dinners at high-end restaurants and National Aquarium passes (and a $5,000 donation from tour partner Aramark), to name just a few.
Do you think this award is a nice addition to the Baltimore tour stop — that it’s something the athletes would be proud of winning? Or do you think it’s just fluff; another way for the city to get some free advertising for its attractions to the crowds already at the event this weekend?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentPinpointing the start of Baltimore’s revitalization
June 16, 2008
I came across a post this morning on the East Coast Bias blog called “Baltimore Orioles, City Reinvents Self,” that remarked on how much the city has changed in the past decade or so.
Without a doubt, much of the development that brings the after hours crowds and the weekend tourists to Baltimore wasn’t here 20 years ago (the Camden Yards Sports Complex and all of Harbor East to name a few). But a PBS documentary that aired last week on Maryland Public Television reminded us that Baltimore’s revitalization began much earlier than that.
Nearly 50 years ago, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor was one of the city’s “worst areas, full of rotting, rat infested piers and trash,” according to the documentary “Global Harbors: A Waterfront Renaissance.” But then a group of city planners came along with the goal of turning it into a waterfront destination that would once again breathe life into the city.
The model would be followed years later by Sydney, Australia, and other waterfront cities looking for a business and tourism renaissance. But, the documentary said, there were some bumps along the way, such as the late 1970s protests to building Harbor Place on open space that was enjoyed by many.
Today large retail stores like Best Buy and Bed, Bath and Beyond are moving in, but parking is an issue for those who might want to shop downtown.
Baltimore’s hospitality industry is also growing, and the city visitor’s bureau is bringing more conventions here to fill up the hotel rooms that are being added. But at a panel discussion last week, members from that industry expressed concern that both the slowing economy and competition from the Washington area would cause a growth plateau period for Baltimore’s hotel occupancy rate for the next couple of years.
Do you think the city’s tourists and weekend shoppers will be able to support the continuing renaissance in downtown? Or are there things you dislike about the expansion — then and now — and think the city ought to pay more attention to preserving some of the open space?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentStory on Sowers case sparks controversy
June 13, 2008
Comments in a story on Anna Sowers (widow of Zach Sowers) in the June issue of Exhibit A have been the subject of heated comments today on the Exhibit A Web site and several others.
{Background: Zach Sowers was robbed and beaten near Patterson Park in June 2007; he died in March after being in a coma for 10 months.}
The Exhibit A story, “Young widow’s anger reshapes her dream for the city,” includes comments from Margaret Burns, spokeswoman for Baltimore State’s Attorney Patricia Jessamy:
“The truth of the matter is, Zach’s injury was on one side of this face, and he looked like a sleeping baby when he arrived” at the hospital, Burns told Exhibit A. “The injuries were not consistent with this horrible pummeling—it appeared that when he fell down, he had collapsed after being hit. We know he was kicked, he fell and hit his head, he fell between two cars. He probably injured something in the fall or he had a pre-existing condition. There was no evidence of the vicious beating, no evidence of stomping.”
Burns added: “We had not wanted to go against this poor woman [Anna]. Everything she says to you is not 100 accurate. He is gone and the opportunity to have questions answered was ruined by not having an autopsy.”
The story got increased attention yesterday when a (Baltimore) Examiner blogger linked to the interview and summarized Margaret Burns’ comments. The visitors who have commented on the Exhibit A site have largely taken umbrage with Burns’ remarks.
Anna Sowers also responded to the story on her Web site yesterday, calling the statements “really troubling.”
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related Content-
Business
Business postsLaw
Law postsRecent Posts
- Can the city support an NBA or NHL team?
- What’s in a name?
- A foot-stompin’ good time
- “Do you have any Grey Poupon?”
- Living with less international news
- What’s cooking at the old deli?
Recent Comments
- Anonymous: I think the recent rise in wine festivals is due to ever-increasing alcohol abuse. For some reason,...
- Anonymous: I know people who have tried overnight delivery of luggage with great success. Easy to check in, easy to...
- Anonymous: Newspapers will cater to their clientele. The unwashed masses prefer knowing the scores in last...
- Anne Riley: The intern takes offense.
- Jerry: I hope they have marble ryes.