Ever since Kevin Plank's Port Covington chimera of an Under Armour driven innovation city on the Middle Branch collapsed on its own weight - and the area morphed into a much more modest "Baltimore Peninsula" - the public has tuned out of big visions and returned to the usual cynicism of Baltimore as the place that is forever in recovery. (Former SUN columnist Dan Rodricks).
Not Brad Rogers, Executive Director at South Baltimore Gateway Partnership. Equipped with some $8 million of annual casino proceeds that are part of a community benefits agreement Rogers is bulllish about Baltimore and has been at work transforming South Baltimore under the moniker Reimagine the Middle Branch.
As Roger points out, this body of water has been long neglected as a place where all the undesirable stuff could go, not only now defunct industrial uses such as the Carr Lowry glass factory or the Insulator company but also a giant BGE substation, the regional trash incinerator and the giant coal transfer station that carried the name port Covington and the central garage for City vehicles.
 |
| View from the Port Covington Dock (Photo Philipsen) |
Even after some developers with foresight, such as Pat Turner (Silo Point) saw the potential of this neglected body of water and invested in demolishing the glass factory and the substation, officials still had only bad ideas, such as a Walmart and Sam's Club or a casino and its giant parking garage all hard at the shoreline.
But "the City in perpetual recovery" doesn't stand still. The big box stores became temporary Under Armour facilities (now replaced by its new mass timber headquarters), the City Garage became Under Armour's innovation lab and is now a start-up and incubator place and the casino became the money source of equity investments in South Baltimore. (Cherry Hill rec center).
Rogers never tires involving the South Baltimore communities in planning and in showing off the progress that has been made by guiding tours and meetings on land and on the water.
Last Sunday he invited anyone interested to a free boat ride on Baltimore's water taxi party boat, large enough for a larger group, with a draft low enough to ply the shallow waters of the Middle Branch. The cupholders remained unused, though.
The tour started at the pier east of Plank's distillery where a new pop-up Biergarten dubbed Seagarten has just been completed. There was a Asian food festival in progress and the area was teaming with life. When the boat took off we passed a large car carrier that brings imported cars to Baltimore's port, a Carnival cruise ship, and the two Navy ships docked in Port Covington. Baltimore certainly didn't look like a dying city. Quite the opposite, it looked more like a gateway to the world.
 |
| Brad Rogers narrating the Middle Branch Tour |
Rogers has a law degree and a masters in environmental management, has been on the job for 10 years. He can easily cover a 1.5 hour narration of the area, including many historical sidebars and answering any questions from the audience.
He talks about dredging the shipping lanes, the artificial islands that are built from dredge material and become wildlife refuges, rising waters and resiliency, fishing of invasive fish (and getting cash for it), delta wetlands and Patapsco river silt, Mason Cove (completed) and Smith Cove (in progress) between Cherry Hill and Westport, the giant stormwater pipe that delivers dirty run-off there that will soon be filtered by new wetlands, the new waterfront parks in front the new Westport townhomes, the planned monument for Baltimore's former baseball Negro League (Satchel Page), the trail construction and shoreline restoration in front of the Harbor Hospital.
It all will be part of the new Middle Branch waterfront promenade that will connect all those jewels and will run from the environmental education center at Mason Cove all the way to the cruise ship terminal. If only SHA would allow a pedestrian connection to Mason Cove and CSX the use of the historic rail alignment with the iconic turn bridge sitting idle in the water. Those two connections may take longer, but the rest of this trail system is well underway and in large parts complete and already used.
But its not all shoreline restoration, trails, wetlands and parks, nor is it all funded by casino money. The Middle Branch - thanks to the now established long-term vision- is now also the focus of investors. Goldman Sachs is still part of the realization of a smaller version of Plank's original dream, the developer Mark Sapperstein
 |
| Locke Insulator redevelopment (Photo Philipsen) |
has almost completed the transformation of the Locke Insulator campus into hundreds of townhomes and apartments, and the developer Ray Jackson is about to complete the first batch of the Westport townhomes that are replacing Pat Turner's original much bigger dream. Caves Valley is investing in the Paramount a 4,800 seat state of the art music venue on Ostend Street, and the Warner walk that will connect the casino to the Paramount and the stadia.
The Ravens are building out their nest with pre- and post-game party areas and the Stadium Authority is planning mixed use between Oriole Park and M&T stadium.
All in all, a huge pool of investment is rolling into South Baltimore without displacing any existing homes or residents . It will be a huge boost for Baltimore by opening up its second waterfront to a much larger public and to the communities that had been cut off for too long.
Klaus Philipsen, FAIA
 |
| Fishing at the Middle Branch |
 |
| The new townhomes at Westport |
 |
| The new Seagarten pop up event space |
 |
| Insulator redevelopment at Hanover Bridge |
 |
| Taking in the tour |
 |
| The new Under Armour Headquarters (all photos: Philipsen) |
See also on this blog:
The promising new faces on the Middle Branch
Big names and ideas for Baltimore's "second waterfront"
