Amid the discussion of the merits of the proposed MCB Real Estate redevelopment of Harborplace, there is one aspect of the plan and its impact on the Inner Harbor that has not been recognized. Much has been written and debated about the wisdom of increasing building density, eliminating building height restrictions enacted by the city decades ago, problems with building on city park land and altering and redirecting views to the Inner Harbor. However, the aspect of preservation of historic Inner Harbor views and vistas has not been raised.
The Society for the Preservation of Federal Hill and Fell’s Point has reviewed the plan and questions its visual impact on historic views of Federal Hill across the Inner Harbor from downtown. In 1967, the Preservation Society devised a comprehensive plan that prevented construction of a federal highway over Montgomery Street and the top of historic Federal Hill that would have included a connecting bridge over the Inner Harbor to Fell’s Point. Without this landmark preservation victory, the 50 years of development and redevelopment of the Inner Harbor that created one of America’s greatest urban waterfront districts would not have happened.
MCB’s proposed plan to revitalize Harborpalce dramatically changes the skyline to the north and along the western edge of the promenade. The redevelopment scheme calls for the demolition of the two existing low-scaled Harborplace pavilions. In place of the Pratt Street pavilion, an approximately 10-story building would be constructed alongside a sloping building that will rise to about the same height. With this proposed construction, the site lines toward Federal Hill from the north side of Pratt Street are compromised, diminishing the visual importance of Federal Hill in its Inner Harbor setting.
On the western side of the promenade, the impact of the proposed high-rise buildings is even more devastating to the historic views of Federal Hill looking south from Pratt Street. The current views would be severely reduced due to the demolition of the low-scaled Light Street pavilion and the proposed erection of two high-rise towers — one 32 stories and the other 25 — built out to the promenade’s edge, projected to house 900 residential units. These two multi-story buildings will restrict the historic view from the promenade to Federal Hill and form a high wall around the Inner Harbor compromising the clear unobstructed view south to the landmark neighborhood that abuts it.
Here the park and open space surrounding the appropriately scaled Light Street pavilion, that provide a transitional space between the water and the high-rise buildings on the west side of Light Street, have been designated as the site for these two high-rise towers. As a consequence, the visual impact of the Inner Harbor is reduced and the importance and significance of Federal Hill in the urban landscape is marginalized. Surrounded by high-rise construction blocking views to the adjoining neighborhoods, the Inner Harbor’s connection to the city is weakened and the importance of Federal Hill lost amid the wall of new multi-story buildings proposed for the redevelopment of Harborplace.
Today, as in 1967, the Preservation Society is alarmed that Federal Hill’s integrity and historic significance is again being threatened. Not by a federal highway, but by a massive redevelopment project that promises to reduce the importance and history of this iconic landmark. Built partially on city-owned park land, MCB’s project will dismantle the carefully planned and constructed urban design that was orchestrated to recognize and enhance the historic nature of Federal Hill while preserving its relationship to the Inner Harbor and the neighborhoods surrounding it. The Preservation Society believes this proposal, although not directly affecting Federal Hill, would compromise the historic context of Federal Hill and its urban environment. Given these critical issues, the Preservation Society voices its opposition to MCB’s project for the negative effects it will have on the historic relationship of Federal Hill to the Inner Harbor and the surrounding neighborhoods.
David Hughlett Gleason is president of the Society for the Preservation of Federal Hill and Fell’s Point. He can be reached at info@preservationsociety.com.