MANAGING BALTIMORE'S INNER HARBOR OPERATIONS:
The Need for Direct Day-to-Day Authority and Empowerment

Report from the Greater Baltimore Committee's
Inner Harbor Management Task Force

CONCLUSIONS

The Inner Harbor, and its surrounding area, has become a valuable destination not only for millions of out-of-town visitors and tourists, but also provides enjoyment and a meeting ground for Baltimoreans of diverse economic and cultural backgrounds. This important asset is inherently fragile, and can easily deteriorate in a surprisingly short time. The huge economic and cultural benefits to the city can quickly disappear from the failure to manage them on a day to day basis.

Unfortunately, neglect has begun to be apparent in several areas. The term "management" does not apply to the city's current arrangement for attention to the Inner Harbor. Development often appears to be driven and determined with a primary focus on the immediate economic return on every inch of ground rather than the potential value a project might bring to the entire harbor. Proper husbandry of this valuable asset requires the constant, everyday attention of an individual or group whose sole concern is to defend the city's primary interest in the continuing maintenance and future development of the Inner Harbor.

A thorough examination and review of the current operational structure of harbor related issues reveals that it is a disjointed, fragmented, and an ineffective approach directed at the city's most visible and valuable physical assets. The lack of an organizational structure devoting attention to harbor related issues has detrimentally impacted on its uses and needs. Immediate attention must be given to the harbor and its challenges if it is to continue as a top attraction and premier landmark of the city.