Posted on 10/08/2023 5:35:29 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
BALTIMORE — Once a beacon for activity in downtown Baltimore, the Harborplace pavilions will now be torn down by the new owners who are on a mission to revive the area.
It's a place that was once booming with tourists. Now, when you take a walk through the Harborplace pavilions, doors are locked and many stores sit vacant.
As the entire harbor is getting redeveloped, one project will be tearing down the two pavilions by the new owners, MCB Real Estate. Marketing Managing Director Jarnell Swecker said this is a result of what the community repeatedly shared.
"They need something right here that will say we want to see this we want to come to Baltimore to see that," said Joseph Weinstein, who grew up in Baltimore.
He recalls the good old days of going to the harbor. "This was the place we would come to as kids, as a family to go on a Sunday trip or a family outing,” said Weinstein.
He said it brings him a sense of hope of what's to come in replacing the pavilions.
"The new developer, maybe he has big plans for something that will actually make tourists want to come specifically to this area,” said Weinstein.
But for some that work in the pavilions, news of complete demolition brings a sense of shock.
"I can't even process words right now because of that because we've been here for so long especially the company that I’m with, I’m kind of speechless,” said Joshua Hughes, who is a manager at Life in Charm City.
Hughes has worked in the pavilions for 18 years.
"Once I started here, you couldn’t even move down here, you were literally bumping elbows into people that's how crowded it was," said Hughes.
He said he's sad to know the heart of the harbor will be torn down, but sees the potential for bringing it back to the glory days.
"They should keep the mom and pop shops, that's what everybody wants," said Hughes.
While there is no timeline for the demolition, Swecker said they are taking community aspirations to the design phase where they will then have more on a reimagined Harborplace.
Unless the new owner plans to provide the tourists with armed escorts, what makes him think anyone will want to venture into Crime City these days?
I almost got mugged there on the plaza a few years ago.
Saw a native fast walking toward me from 100 yards away. And as I moved forward I could see a change of trajectory to stay on me.
When he got about 20 feet away, with my hands in my jacket pockets, I squared up on him and stopped. He thought I was packing heat and said something about needing a dollar for bus fare and walked away.
Doubt I could get away with that tactic today.
Business trip to Chicago 30 years ago: checked out the Monets at the museum, took a bike ride along the lake, dinner at the pier, Cubs game, great steak at the Chophouse.
Wouldn’t set foot there now.
Beware of using Waze driving through a city like Baltimore. Waze takes you where there is the least traffic. In my case it was a street that was mostly boarded up houses with a few people wandering around aimlessly and an occasional rehabbed row house. That was scary.
Safety...
Need to tear down the entire infrastructure of Ballimer and call Terminix to get rid of the evil vermin...
If you go for a lunch, order a sandwich and soup, and yes, a steak knife for protection.
He recalls the good old days of going to the harbor. "This was the place we would come to as kids, as a family to go on a Sunday trip or a family outing,” said Weinstein.
The simple fact is that most peopke do not want to go downtown because of .... crime. No one in city government will admit that but it is the simple truth. Other than Ravens games and Orioles games, no one wants to go there. The crime has also spread over into Little Italy and the yuppie neighborhoods of Canton. Anything new they put in the Inner Harbor will also fail.
Harborplace pavilions got old, they need to build something like a town square format.
Me too.
It is not the entire city, maybe 80% ... there are still some small enclaves that are very nice Canton, Locust Point for example. But you are surrounded by very dodgy areas. the police department is undermanned and overwhelmed, the schools are a disaster, and property taxes are insane. There are two world-class hospitals though, Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland.
with a name like Jarnell Swecker it’s got to be good.
well maybe not.
probably bunch of corrupt minority companies gonna make bank.
Back somewhere around 2000 I went to a convention in Baltimore. I had spent some years growing up in Virginia and Maryland, so I was a little familiar with the area, and when we went out as a big group to a crab house, I think the folks from the midwest who watched me eat the crabs were a bit horrified. I was piling up the empty carapaces of steamed blue crabs, smashing them like Gallagher, and I am certain they thought I was some kind of barbarian.
But I was just eating blue crabs as we did growing up...my dad would take us out in a boat, we would bring back a couple of of bushels of them which we caught on pilings in the Chesapeake. My mom would throw them into a giant pot with a bit of water in the bottom, one at a time using tongs, and the aggressive crabs would frantically snap repeatedly and sharply at the metal tongs as she threw them in.
After she had three or four in, she would grab the Old Bay Seasoning, and completly cover them with it. Not sprinkling, she used the pour opening and let it fly.
For some reason, the Old Bay seasoning seemed to calm the crabs down, or maybe it was just that they settled in because they didn’t have giant tongs swinging them around by one of their claws. In any case, they seemed to scuttle around in the pot until she poured that spice on top of them, then they just stopped,
Then she would throw another three or four crabs in, and repeat the process until that giant aluminum pot was full.
Once, one of the crabs broke free as she was transferring it. The sharp spike sticking out of the side of the carapace landed right on her great toe and pierced it, where she ended up with a badly infected toe. That was in the future. As soon as the crab got its bearing, it began to scuttle quickly, sideways, along the wall, pincers held menacingly at the ready on each side, arched and ready for battle. The dog was barking, chasing it along, we were all screaming and running about.
It was complete pandemonium.
Finally, my mother realized she better stop the crazy before a Veterinarian bill rose up out of the chaos, or a trip to the Bethesda Naval Hospital for one of us.
She waded in with the tongs, the ever-present cigarette butt sporting a long ash hanging from the corner of her mouth as it always did in those days, grabbed the crab and deposited in the pot. No sweat. But I remember how terrible her toe ended up looking.
When the crabs were done, she covered the dining room table with paper from the Washington Post, and just brought out a huge platter of crabs and began steaming the second pot. It was a great way to feed a family of eight back then, and we all loved them.
And we ate them like Cannibal Savages.
So, the people from Iowa or Wisconsin watching me that day no doubt viewed me in that light.
The part of that trip to Baltimore that depresses me a bit to this day, was an experience I had going back to the hotel from the conference.
I really liked the Skywalk that went from our hotel to the Conference Center. In the morning, it was bustling with people, the shops were open, and it was a grand time, no crosswalks to deal with. I thought it was great.
But one day, I stayed until the very end, and when I went back to the hotel using the Skywalk, it was nearly deserted. There were no people around. All the bustling stores were dark, and had iron bars across their windows and doors.
I hadn’t noticed at first, but when I realized it, I felt extremely unsafe. I opened a door to walk out on a section of walk across the street, and there were three teenagers loitering right in the middle of the walk to the other side. When I opened the door, they all stopped in mid-action and looked over at me.
I turned around, went back inside and down the stairs to get out on the street with all the people who knew from experience not to use the walkway after 5 PM. I didn’t know that, but the first time I went out there, it was pretty clear to me too.
Never been back down there since then, but I suspect walking out there as I had would be a sign of insanity today.
Sad. A city just as lost as Chicago.
Great views of the city, and on the wharf there are boat rides and amenities.
True, but Johns Hopkins hospital is in one of the worst neighborhoods in Baltimore. (And that's saying something)
Ain’t the beer cold…
Crab feast, old bay, newspapers. And beer.
Those were the days.
Harborplace is fine. It is the feral thieves and looters that got out of control.
Ain’t the beer cold…
God Bless Chuck Thompson.
Another great story. Thank you.
Hundreds of armed guards?
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