Charles Center is a large-scale urban redevelopment project in central

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

's downtown business district of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Beginning in 1954, a group called the "Committee for Downtown" promoted a master plan for arresting the commercial decline of central Baltimore. In 1955, the "Greater Baltimore Committee", headed by banker and developer James W. Rouse, joined the effort. A plan was developed by noted American urban planner and architect David A. Wallace, (1917−2004), strongly supported by Mayors Thomas L. J. D'Alesandro, Jr. (1947−1959) and

Theodore R. McKeldin Theodore Roosevelt McKeldin (November 20, 1900August 10, 1974) was an American politician. He was a member of the Republican Party, served as mayor of Baltimore twice, from 1943 to 1947 and again from 1963 to 1967. McKeldin was the 53rd Govern ...

, (1943−1947 and 1963−1967) and many in their administrations, which formed the basis of a $25 million bond issue voted on by the citizens of Baltimore City during the municipal elections in November 1958. The architects' view of the overall Charles Center Redevelopment Plan with the conceptions of possible buildings, lay-out and plan that was publicized to the voters that spring and summer before, only slightly resembles the actual buildings and designs that later were really constructed by the mid-1970s. The plan was unusual for its time in not pursuing a "clean-slate" site, but rather incorporating existing structures. The site includes three public plazas, (Charles, Center, and Hopkins) designed by

RTKL RTKL was a global architecture, planning and design firm. The firm was founded in 1946 by Archibald Rogers and Francis Taliaferro in Rogers’ grandmother’s basement in Annapolis and grew to be one of the largest architectural firms in the world ...

, connected by walkways, staircases and pedestrian bridges. The plazas cover several multi-level underground parking garages known originally as "Down Under". In the late 1970s Rouse's Inner Harbor project extended the redevelopment southward to

Baltimore Harbor Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore is a shipping port along the tidal basins of the three branches of the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland on the upper northwest shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It is the nation's largest port facilities fo ...

and the northern shore of the Northwest Branch of the

Patapsco River The Patapsco River mainstem is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 river in central Maryland that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. The river's tidal port ...

and was even later in the late 1980s to include the

Pratt Street Power Plant The Pratt Street Power Plant — also known as the Pier Four Power Plant, The Power Plant, "Pratt Street Toenail", and Pratt Street Station — is a historic former power plant located in downtown Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It has undergone signif ...

on Pier 4 along East Pratt Street and moving north up into Market Place (site of former "Centre Market" with its three adjacent wholesale produce, fish and retail/dry goods market buildings) along the west bank of the Jones Falls stream, with a development with two different phases/developers as "The Brokerage" and later renamed " Power Plant Live!" . By the late 1990s, development, new skyscrapers and attractions had moved further east and southeast along the Patapsco River/Baltimore Harbor waterfront into an industrial/warehousing/manufacturing area originally termed "Inner Harbor East", later shortened to "

Harbor East Inner Harbor East, now more recently referred to more commonly as simply as Harbor East, is a relatively new mixed-use development project in Baltimore, Maryland, United States along the northern shoreline of the Northwest Branch of the Pataps ...

", spearheaded by John Paterakis of the H & S Bakery Company on near-by South Central Avenue and Aliceanna and Fleet Streets and his developer/assistant Michael Beatty, eventually moving up against the western fringes of the simultaneous eastward growth from the other direction along the waterfront from

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

and Fells Point. By 2013, "

" boasted an extension southeastward from the southern end of the

Jones Falls Expressway Interstate 83 (I-83) is an Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its southern terminus is at a signalized intersection with Fayette Street in Baltimore, Maryland; its northern terminus is at I-81 near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Most ...

− (Interstate 83) of old alley-like President Street south to become a wide, tree-lined boulevard ending in a central circle with a sculpture and monument with a stepped water fall at the base commemorating the Katryn Forest Massacre of 1939−40 by Soviet Red Army of captured Polish Army officers at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, a memorial project of the Polish-American community in East Baltimore. Surrounding the impressive but sober sculpture is an array of shiny new glass and steel modernist hotels, office buildings with ground-level stores, shops, markets and a movie theatre, even with a restored "

President Street Station The President Street Station in Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, is a former train station and railroad terminal. Built in 1849 and opened in February 1850, the station saw Baltimore riot of 1861, some of the earliest bloodshed of the Ame ...

" from 1849 to 1850 of the

Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated independently from 1836 to 1881. It was formed in 1836 by the merger of four state-chartered railroads in three Middle Atlantic states to create a ...

with exhibits and activities for a "Baltimore Civil War Museum" commemorating the Station's railroad history as the oldest big-city train station left, an architectural landmark for its unique "

Howe truss A Howe truss is a truss bridge consisting of chords, verticals, and diagonals whose vertical members are in tension and whose diagonal members are in compression. The Howe truss was invented by William Howe in 1840, and was widely used as a bridg ...

" type roof structure, and commemorating the "First Bloodshed of the Civil War" on Friday, April 19, 1861, with the occurrence of the famed "

Pratt Street Riot The Baltimore riot of 1861 (also called the "Pratt Street Riots" and the "Pratt Street Massacre") was a civil conflict on Friday, April 19, 1861, on Pratt Street, in Baltimore, Maryland. It occurred between antiwar "Copperhead" Democrats (the l ...

" which took place all along President Street north to turn west on Pratt Street to the Camden Street Station (restored today with museums and exhibits inside for sports, entertainment and its Civil War, labor and railroad history) of the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

near the present Camden Yards stadiums with near-by "Oriole Park" for the baseball team

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

. The Charles Center public areas are presently undergoing extensive renovations in the early 2010s to improve its competitiveness with newer developments, including those at the Inner Harbor (from the late 1960s to the early 1980s).

Buildings constructed

* One Charles Center, North Charles and West Fayette Streets, 1962, a 24-story office tower designed by

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...

* Two Charles Center, West Saratoga, North Charles and North Liberty Streets, 1969, a pair of residential towers, 27 and 30 stories * George Fallon Federal Building, north side facing Hopkins Plaza, (rear/south side on West Lombard Street), 1964? * Mercantile Safe Deposit and Trust Company Building, West Baltimore Street and Hopkins Place/South Liberty Street, (rear/south side facing Hopkins Plaza), 1969 * The Statler Hilton Baltimore, North Hanover and West Fayette Streets, a hotel covering an entire city block, designed by

William B. Tabler William B. Tabler Sr. (October 28, 1914 – February 3, 2004) was an American architect who designed more than 400 hotels. He was best known for giving Hilton hotels the clean but sometimes stark face of corporate America, most notably in the 46-s ...

, with two towers, one opened in 1967, the second in 1974 *

Morris A. Mechanic Theatre The Morris A. Mechanic Theatre was a playhouse at 1 South Charles Street that was part of the Charles Center of Baltimore, Maryland. The theatre was built by and named for owner Morris A. Mechanic who operated a number of theatres in the city ...

, North Charles and West Baltimore Streets, 1967 * Sun Life Building (Baltimore), North Charles Street, 1966 * Charles Center South, South Charles and West Lombard Streets, 1975 * Edward A. Garmatz United States Courthouse, West Lombard Street and South Hanover Street, 1976

Buildings retained or preserved

* Maryland National Bank Building, (originally the Baltimore Trust Building when built, later the Mathieson Building, Maryland National Bank Building, briefly NCNB-NationsBank Tower), 10 Light Street, between East Baltimore and East Redwood Streets and Wine Alley, 1929, (later in 2012, acquired by

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...

* Fidelity and Deposit Trust Company Building, North Charles and West Lexington Streets, 1894 *

Company Building, North Charles and West Baltimore Streets, 1906? *

Lord Baltimore Hotel The Lord Baltimore Hotel is located at 20 West Baltimore Street, on the northeast corner of the intersection with North Hanover Street, and one block west of the main downtown thoroughfare of North Charles Street, in the downtown area of Baltimor ...

(now in Radisson Plaza Suites hotel chain), West Baltimore Street, at North Hanover Street, 1928, *

Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building The Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building is a historic office building located at Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is the former headquarters of the old Consolidated Gas, Light and Electric Power Company of Baltimore City, which was a ...

, West Lexington and North Liberty Streets, 1916, (now the 39 West Lexington Homes (apartments/condos), 21 stories; also with Annex Tower adjacent, built 196?, still used as offices by BGE (later part of

Constellation Energy Group Constellation Energy Corporation () is an energy company headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The company provides electric power, natural gas, and energy management services. It has approximately two million customers across th ...

, acquired by Exelon Corporation of Chicago, 2013

References

{{Baltimore neighborhoods Buildings and structures in Baltimore Downtown Baltimore RTKL Associates buildings