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A triumph at 50

Charles Center was catalyst for revival of city's downtown

An Appraisal

March 26, 2008|By Edward Gunts , Sun Architecture Critic

Other buildings followed in rapid succession, including the Hamburger's clothing store, the Sun Life Building, the Fallon Federal Office Building and the Mercantile Safe Deposit and Trust Co. headquarters. In 1967, the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre opened at Baltimore and Charles streets.

By the early 1980s, the total investment in Charles Center was $180 million - $50 million more than planners projected in 1958.

In recent years, Charles Center has experienced a rebirth of its own. Improvements include Orioles owner Peter Angelos' restoration of Mies' One Charles Center office tower and creation of a new home for the Johns Hopkins University's Downtown Center; David Hillman's conversion of the BG&E Building to luxury apartments; and the Downtown Partnership's greening of Center Plaza. More changes are inevitable, but Charles Center's role in the city's rebirth is undeniable.

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"It kicked off a chain of successful redevelopment initiatives that astonished the community, which had a collective inferiority complex," said Millspaugh, the former Charles Center executive. "The rest is history."

ed.gunts@baltsun.com

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