Planners see arena reviving west side

The Camden Yards of arenas? With its Little League measurements? Is Deputy Mayor Frank insane? If the arena design doesn't include a 200' x 100' rink and ALL SEATS pointed in the proper direction, then it is doomed to fail. I am extremely disappointed that the AIA Baltimore Urban Design Committee's arguments were just flat out ignored by the powers that be. The citizens of Baltimore do not deserve to be slapped in the face with the worst-case scenario.

What is an arena going to do? The 1st Mariner Center is just a long blank wall on Howard Street, totally devoid of any sign of life. This is a problem with arenas in a center city area. Unless some event is going on, they're just a large dark waste of space.

demolish the arena. Build some boutiques and upscale shops with the citizens and tourist in mind. stop taxing industry out of the city. You can't have it both ways all the time City hall. Run the drug addicts out of the inner city i.e. Market (Lexington ), light rail stations, and water-front. You have a ton of rat ladden building that are prime real estate. Vacant for over 20 years. And all you jokers can think of is One Big Box with no clue who is going to use it ! Stop the Jokey Jokes ! Clear out the trash first and then talk about developing that small area your proposing. As Mayor Dixon stated Crime needs grime to exist. We need jobs in abundance that pay a decent/livable wage. Not t-shirt shops. Your plan is so shot sighted its sad. And the time delay of transplanting from old to new is typical Balti-moron way of working backwards with the same stagnant results. the results will remain the same with the lack of employment. P.S. who has any money to pay to build /see the people you want attract, that actually lives in the Baltimore city boundaries on a regular. Build some unity with big/small business and we will come. The 1st Mariner Arena has served as a memorial for the empty promises and lives for over 2 decades. Looking at the decay of the rest of Howard st and surrounding areas will not sit well with outsiders. Baltimore has become a one horse town and Pimlico doesn't have stake in this race.

Surf52 wrote:

What is an arena going to do? The 1st Mariner Center is just a long blank wall on Howard Street, totally devoid of any sign of life. This is a problem with arenas in a center city area. Unless some event is going on, they're just a large dark waste of space.

An example of this is surprisingly Madison Square Garden in midtown Manhattan. The Farley Post Office is directly across Eighth Avenue to the west. Between this and the Javits Convention Center, there really isn't much of anything. Just two full blocks of railyards and a lot of three-level architecturally insignificant buildings which have definitely seen better days. I once walked around this area a few years ago on a perfect Saturday afternoon. It was just desolate. Not a soul to be seen for blocks.

Surf52 wrote:

What is an arena going to do? The 1st Mariner Center is just a long blank wall on Howard Street, totally devoid of any sign of life. This is a problem with arenas in a center city area. Unless some event is going on, they're just a large dark waste of space.

Did you NOT read the article????....the plan is to have all FOUR SIDES containing retail establishments....does that sound like a long blank wall to you?

If they want to improve the West Side they need to get rid of the Arena and put it over by M&T Bank Stadium. Demolish 1st Mariner when its done and put a park or some nice shops like Cornell is saying or a combination of both. Putting an arena there just keeps it blocked off. The whole area does need to be cleaned up and this would help dramatically. Building the new arena in the same spot would be a HUGE mistake.