Letters

Landmark status will protect theater

The controversy over the future of the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre continues, and tomorrow, the Planning Commission will decide whether to support a landmark designation for the Mechanic.

In its recent editorial "Landmark in all but name" (Aug. 17), The Baltimore Sun was correct in stating that the theater "qualifies as a genuine architectural landmark" but wrong in recommending against a formal landmark designation.

On Aug. 14, 2007, the city's Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) voted unanimously to recommend that the Mechanic be designated as a Baltimore landmark and to give it interim protection by placing the building on its special list.

In response, the developer hired a new architect charged with creating a design that reuses the theater for retail and adds a hotel and residential tower but preserves the integrity of the Mechanic's design.

Because the Mechanic is on the special list, any application for demolition or exterior alteration of the building must be referred to and reviewed by CHAP.

If approved, the project goes forward. If denied, the permit must be withheld for six months, a provision intended to allow time for the Planning Commission and City Council to act on the landmark recommendation.

Relying on the good intentions of the current owner and provisions of the city's Urban Renewal Plan instead of the landmark ordinance, which has much stronger protections against demolition and design safeguards, is naive and shortsighted.

What happens if the developer changes its plans or the building is sold?

Tyler Gearhart, Baltimore

The writer is chairman of Baltimore's Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation.

Don't let hockey mom ascend to presidency

Nine vice presidents have ascended to the presidency through death or resignation of the president.

Do we really want a hockey mom, without international experience, with her finger on the nuclear bomb?

I don't think so.

Philip Lustig, Downingtown, Pa.