OPINION:
At the rate that fear-mongering and partisan sniping are overwhelming the facts about COVID-19, it’s reasonable to wonder whether we Americans are even considering how to replenish our happiness quotients.
So many panic buttons are being simultaneously pushed.
March Madness, with or without fans? Opening Day for baseball, with or without masks? Summer Olympics, in Tokyo or someplace else — or not at all?
And that’s merely the sports side of the entertainment-and-revenue calculus fans and organizers are weighing here and around the world.
On a more local level, the coronavirus has my family rethinking vacation. Cruises and hotel-logged options are out. Instead, we’re considering day trips to destinations along the I-95 Corridor.
First would be Baltimore, long a professional sports powerhouse — or so I thought.
Baltimore is tussling with an identity crisis that covers all bases.
The city is suffering from a population decline, plagued with a violent crime problem, mired in political corruption scandals and hamstrung by poor urban planning and lacking in economic development.
Considerable improvement in the latter could indeed improve any and all of the former.
Baltimore’s twin crown jewels, Harborplace and the Inner Harbor, need polishing — and not by merely saving and cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay either.
Major retailers at Harborplace, including Gap and Gap Kids, Banana Republic and Johnston & Murphy’s, are shuttered. Some foot-traffic attractions for the Inner Harbor, such as the Women of the World Festival that was scheduled for this weekend and was expected to draw 1,000 participants, are being canceled because of coronavirus concerns, and that means loss of hotel revenue, too.
Thank goodness the National Aquarium, one of my personal faves, is still available. The attraction is on our to-do list to visit with my 3-year-old granddaughter because the D.C. counterpart, which was smaller than Baltimore’s, closed in 2013, and aquariums are perfect family attractions regardless of what Mother Nature offers out of doors.
But tourism and shopping in Baltimore haven’t been helped by a string of local leaders who can’t seem to get out of their own way. Two mayors have been jailed because of crimes they committed, and a third allowed rioters to rip through the city after a black man died in police custody.
Current Mayor Jack Young suggested demolishing Harborplace, the privately owned shopping center that, when it opened four decades ago, established the Inner Harbor as a can’t-miss destination for tourists and local alike. Given the venue’s shuttered stores and half-empty eateries today, Mr. Young’s proposal is a reasonable one.
Harborplace and its enterprising developer, James Rouse, were once showcased around the globe as a model for downtown revitalization.
But a lack of forward thinking by elected leaders when it comes to protecting and supporting the public and private investments around the Inner Harbor has hurt the neighborhood.
Unless Mr. Young can separate himself from a cycle of municipal ineptitude, the attractiveness of the Inner Harbor will dissipate — and Harborplace in particular will fade into irrelevance.
Blaming the coronavirus won’t be an option.
As mayor, Mr Young’s plate is full. But doing what he can to encourage out-of-towners and locals to enjoy downtown attractions like the National Aquarium, to dine and shop in Inner Harbor establishments and fill the seats in nearby Camden Yards — all of it is vital to Baltimore’s future.
To borrow a few words from Francis Scott Key, Baltimore’s harbor should shine “in full glory.”
⦁ Deborah Simmons can be contacted at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.
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