Progress on Pratt Street project
by Mary Helen Sprecher
newsroom@baltimoreguide.com
There’s progress — or rather process — on Pratt Street. Just don’t expect to see traffic cones any time soon.
Ayers Saint Gross and Olin Partnership of Philadelphia, the design team for the 16-block redesign, “is in the process of negotiating a contract” with the Baltimore Development Corp, for the scope of work to be done on the project, said Joann Logan, public information officer for BDC.
There is no word, she added, on when negotiations will be completed.
The portion of Pratt Street that will be redesigned stretches between Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard on the west and President Street on the east.
According to information distributed by BDC, the Ayers Saint Gross/Olin Partnership team’s concept envisions Pratt Street as a “world class avenue of the Inner Harbor that is a celebration of all that is Baltimore,” lined with shops and restaurants, water features, civic and pedestrian spaces, with a landscaped median and on-street parking.
Part of the trouble with Pratt Street as it now exists, BDC has stated, has been its lack of pedestrian-friendly features, streetscaping and traffic calming devices. The proposed redesign includes an east-west trolley between President Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, as well as bicycle lanes. A central “video wall” is planned for a new Civic Plaza structure at the current McKeldin Plaza area. New fountains would establish ‘gateways’ at President Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.
On June 6, Logan stated, “the Pratt Street Advisory Committee will meet to discuss process and a time schedule for the first phase of the project.
The advisory committee is comprised of Pratt Street stakeholders, community representatives, city agencies heads and other interested parties.”
The meeting is not open to the public, according to Logan.
The redesign of Pratt Street has been an ongoing project, and the advisory committee meeting is the latest development. An announcement that Pratt Street would be redesigned, and a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) asking for ideas on the renovation of public open spaces along the Pratt Street corridor, went out in the fall of 2006. That RFQ netted 10 proposals by design teams. The 10 were narrowed down to six by December, and then to four by the new year. All four finalists made their presentations on Feb. 20, and BDC released the name of the chosen firm on March 1.
