Baltimore's Harborplace nominated to be designated an endangered historic place as redevelopment looms

Baltimore's Harborplace could be designated an endangered historic place, in the latest effort to stop the redevelopment of the waterfront space. 

The Inner Harbor Coalition nominated the area Friday to the National Trust for Historic Preservation for inclusion on its 2027 list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. 

The space up for consideration includes two waterfront pavilions at Pratt and Light streets, along with the amphitheater that sits between them and the brick promenade surrounding the structures.

"Harborplace did more than change Baltimore's waterfront," Inner Harbor Coaltion Chair Bill Pencek said in a statement Friday. "It demonstrated to cities around the world that an obsolete and deteriorated industrial waterfront could become an inviting public place—one that brought people back downtown, supported local businesses and reconnected an entire city with its harbor."

The news release added that the area is currently being threatened by MCB Real Estate's redevelopment project, which was slated to start construction soon. The $900 million project has the backing of Mayor Brandon Scott and would replace the existing structures with a park, retail spaces and residential buildings. 

Last week, community members filed a lawsuit challenging the project, and one local business owner is also seeking to have the pavilions designated as historic landmarks with the Maryland Historical Trust. 

History of Harborplace

The Inner Harbor Coalition said in its submission an estimated 100,000 people attended the opening of Harborplace on July 2, 1980. 

In its first year, it drew approximately 18 million visitors, made about $40 million in sales and provided 2,331 full and part-time jobs -- 90% of which went to Baltimore City residents, according to the submission. 

It has since become a central space for the approximately 40,000 people who live within a mile of the Inner Harbor, as well as more than 111,000 downtown workers and millions of annual visitors, the submission added. 

"Harborplace belongs to Baltimore's shared memory," Pencek said. "Generations of residents came here for concerts, festivals, family outings, first jobs, small businesses and encounters with people from across the city and around the world. Its preservation is not about freezing the waterfront in time. It is about carrying forward the openness, public access and human scale that made the Inner Harbor successful."

Threat of endangerment

The Inner Harbor Coalition described the impending redevelopment project as an "immediate threat to the property."

It said the project calls for demolishing the existing pavilions and the amphitheater to replace them with approximately 400,000 square feet of mixed-use construction, including two residential towers of 25 and 32 stories.

The coalition has called for an independent review of possible alternatives that would keep the pavilions while still renovating the promenade and improving utilities and climate resilience.

"If action is not taken, the pavilions and amphitheater could be demolished before a fully financed replacement project is ready to proceed," Pencek said. "Demolition would permanently eliminate the opportunity to rehabilitate historic structures that remain well suited to adaptive reuse."

MCB previously said demolition of the pavilions could start in 2026, but it has since told tenants they will remain open through the end of the year, according to the coalition.

"National recognition would bring urgently needed attention to the decisions now being made about Harborplace," Pencek added.

The Inner Harbor Coaltion is a citizen-led group "dedicated to revitalizing Baltimore's Inner Harbor and Harborplace while preserving public access, the waterfront's open character and the planning principles that have shaped the harbor for more than half a century," according to Friday's news release. 

CBS News Baltimore previously reached out Baltimore City and MCB Real Estate for comment on last week's lawsuit but did not hear back.