Calvert Street

Annapolis officials, seeking to extend the historic feel of Main Street to nearby West Street, are considering the use of brick instead of concrete on a popular stretch they're about to upgrade. But the change could extend construction into the winter, and that would keep the busy section of restaurants and shops closed to cars into the Christmas shopping season. The project is scheduled to be finished around October, in time for the annual boat shows. The change would add about $200,000 to the $1.7 million cost of the project.

This week's Sun article on the decline of the neighborhood tavern got me thinking about those near the newspaper's North Calvert Street building. In addition to welcoming newspaper folk, the bars also served as a destination for young doctors and nurses from Mercy Medical Center and workers from nearby City Hall. Since The Sunpapers moved in 1950 from its stately home in what was then called Sun Square, at Baltimore and Charles streets, to its present building, generations of newsfolk have sought solace and comfort in these convenient establishments at day's end, sometimes even midday.

On December 3, 2003, RONALD MARKLAND NAGLER; beloved husband of Annette (nee Schmid) Nagler; devoted father of Joel Markland Nagler; dear grandfather of Isabel Hamilton Nagler; dear brother of Frederick William Nagler, III. He is also survived by nieces and nephews. Mass of Christian Resurrection will be offered Saturday, 10 A.M. at St. Ignatius Church, 740 N. Calvert Street. Please omit flowers. If desired donations may be made to St. Ignatius Loyola Academy, 740 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21202.

On September 12, 2003 REVEREND FRANCIS XAVIER KNOTT, S.J., beloved son of the late Henry A. and Martha Doyle Knott; dear brother of John L. Knott and his wife Ann and Joseph M. Knott and his wife Kathryn; the late Henry J. Knott, Sr., and his wife Marion, the late Charles A. Sr., and Martin F. Knott and his wife Elizabeth; dear brother-in-law of Catherine Knott. Also survived by 12 nephews, 15 nieces, 93 great nieces and great nephews and 103 great-great nieces and great-great-nephews and his devoted Jesuit Community of the Maryland Province.

BALTIMORE AUTHORITIES must step up efforts to stop late-night unruliness near Charles Street and North Avenue. Inaction is not an option; that would doom efforts to upgrade the entire area north of Pennsylvania Station. A recent article by The Sun's Sara Neufeld described the early-morning scene at that intersection: revelers milling around all-night Club Choices drinking on the street, double-parked cars with stereos blaring, rowdiness and public urination. Enough is enough. Police and the liquor board must do more to eliminate public nuisances and the known code violations.

Charles Street, the cultural and commercial spine of Baltimore for two centuries, could return to two-way traffic under plans by Mayor Martin O'Malley to make the city's signature corridor a draw for tourists and residents once again. The street has been one-way northbound from downtown to Charles Village since 1954, when city planners made it a priority to get people out of town in a hurry. The mayor says that might not be such a good idea anymore, and he has asked his transportation chief to study how to make all of Charles Street two-way.

Spring has been all lies and now it's raining and there's nothing to add and nothing to do but walk away from the liar. Walking away on Calvert Street, past spring, and to St. Ignatius Loyola Academy and some kind of garden and you want to know how big? (I'm lousy with dimensions) but the garden is three windows long, along the church walls, all loaded with tulips. One man, one small, neat businessman, points at one purple, open-mouthed tulip and says, "I want a shirt in that color." I don't.

Hundreds of workers in downtown Annapolis went home early yesterday after a midday power failure immobilized scores of businesses and government offices. Officials at Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. said that water had seeped into an underground electrical box, disrupting power to buildings around West Street, Calvert Street and Church Circle. Power was restored to 96 percent of the affected customers by late afternoon. But BGE spokesman Steven Unglesbee said yesterday evening that the remaining 4 percent would have to wait until work crews found the source of the water, pumped it dry and repaired the electrical line.

Baltimore's Inner Harbor would see redesigned park space, a more pedestrian-friendly layout and less pavement surrounding it under the waterfront's first new master plan since 1965. "We encouraged them to think big and they have," said M.J. "Jay" Brodie, president of Baltimore Development Corp., at yesterday's presentation of the $200,000 plan by Cooper, Robertson & Partners of New York. The consultants sketched an ambitious vision, filled with references to what cities from Paris to San Francisco have done.

The green-and-white banners on Annapolis' West Street proclaim, "It's happening." Property owners and business persons along the stretch of road from Church Circle to Westgate Circle hope the message, part of a $25,000 marketing campaign by the city, is more than just civic optimism. Supporters point to encouraging signs: the issuance of building permits for the Park Place development yesterday, the city's plans to begin the second phase of improvements to the road, and other developments in the works.