We couldn’t agree more with Martin Knott’s assessment that Baltimore should prioritize creating connected and vibrant spaces to drive growth.
Where we part ways with him is the suggestion that the Baltimore Museum of Industry needs to be relocated to make way for economic development.
Cultural organizations are catalysts of urban transformation. Instead of relocating this important cultural asset — one of the few remaining sites with a tangible connection to Baltimore’s industrial past — let’s recognize it as a key element in the harbor’s bright future.
The museum is, itself, a site of industry, a former oyster cannery built circa 1860 where exhibitions and educational programs now celebrate both the workers who built Baltimore and those who will shape its future. In the coming decade, the Inner Harbor will be reborn. We should capitalize on that investment by finally completing the long-awaited pedestrian promenade from Canton to Locust Point— and its terminus at the BMI.
Let’s use this moment to truly connect Baltimore’s waterfront assets — from east to west and from past to present and future.
Anita Kassof, Baltimore
Anita Kassof is executive director of the Baltimore Museum of Industry
