West Street

The Annapolis administration plans to form two committees by next week to study the construction of a garage on a city-owned site on West Street, as part of a compromise to quell a controversy that has consumed the state capital in recent weeks.Jon Arason, director of the city's Planning and Zoning Department, said he is selecting representatives from downtown Annapolis' residential and business communities to serve on the nine- to 11-member committees. The city also has commissioned a separate study of the historic significance of five turn-of-the-century buildings at the site.

Annapolis officials are seeking name suggestions for the new traffic circle at West Street and Taylor Avenue.The city Department of Planning and Zoning wants proposals from residents and organizations accompanied by a written explanation of 200 words or less of why the name should be chosen.Only one suggestion is allowed per applicant or group, and the name and phone number of someone to contact should be included.The deadline for nominations is Monday, after which the Taylor/West Design Advisory Committee will hold a public hearing.

An Irish developer is planning to break ground in June on a 124-room European-style hotel on West Street, a welcome development along a corridor Annapolis officials have been pushing for years.Ted Joyce, a real estate developer who moved to Annapolis two years ago from Kerry County, Ireland, plans to complete his four-story hotel at 176 West St., two blocks from the 214-room Loews Annapolis Hotel, by spring 2000."There's a market for it," Joyce said. A colleague "came to visit me and he wanted to be in the city center, and he couldn't get a room.

Annapolis will build a 500-space garage on West Street in an effort to ease the parking crunch and spur downtown reinvestment, Mayor Dean L. Johnson announced yesterday.The city offered $1.1 million for a 37,000-square foot property that covers nearly a block, starting at the corner of West Street and Colonial Avenue. The deal is set to close tomorrow.City officials praised Cecil Claggett Knighton for shearing $625,000 off the property's appraised value in making the deal."By virtue of his philanthropic gesture, we are now in the position to move forward with plans to build a state-of-the-art parking garage on inner West Street," Johnson said in a statement.

Dining at Ciao on West Street is sort of like meeting an intelligent, handsome and unbelievably wealthy man, then finding out that he steps on ants, lies compulsively or has some other horrendous flaw.The ambience is wonderful. With its windows in the style of an old English apothecary, warm, pastel walls and sturdy wood tables draped with table cloths so freshly pressed you can almost smell the steam, the 2-year-old restaurant feels like a secret hideaway from the hubbub of West Street.There is, however, a big negative to the place -- its food was merely above average and spotty in quality.

An Irish developer is planning to break ground in June on a 124-room European-style hotel on West Street, a welcome development along a corridor Annapolis officials have been pushing for years.Ted Joyce, a real estate developer who moved to Annapolis two years ago from Kerry County, Ireland, plans to complete his four-story hotel at 176 West St., two blocks from the 214-room Loews Annapolis Hotel, by spring 2000."There's a market for it," Joyce said. A colleague "came to visit me and he wanted to be in the city center, and he couldn't get a room.

An Annapolis developer is planning to build a 225-room hotel, theater, office buildings and apartments along West Street -- an area that city officials and residents have long hoped would become an economically vibrant hub in the state capital.City officials say they are thrilled with the preliminary design plans for the $101 million project that developer Jerome J. Parks submitted last week to the Annapolis Department of Planning and Zoning.The project -- named Park Place -- includes the hotel, with a European-style facade; two buildings with retail space on the first floor and 232,000 square feet of office space; a 950-seat auditorium; 208 condominiums and apartments; and a 1,400-space garage.

BEFORE THE Christmas fuss settles down, there will be two very public and popular holiday events in downtown Annapolis -- Midnight Madness on Dec. 9 and the Christmas Lights Parade two nights later.Midnight Madness, staged on Main Street, Maryland Avenue and inner West Street and in West Annapolis, has evolved over the years into an evening when residents try to see how many of their neighbors they can meet.It is not necessarily a big occasion for commerce, although it largely takes place in the shopping district -- and the merchants are as much neighbor as business owner.

Preservationists, downtown residents and aldermen urged Annapolis Mayor Dean L. Johnson last night to postpone today's scheduled demolition of four 100-year-old buildings along West Street until a public hearing can be held on the plan.Annapolis officials plan to tear down four buildings in the 100 block of West St. this morning to construct a temporary 89-space parking lot while a design is commissioned for a parking garage with retail and office space.City officials have publicly discussed building a parking garage on the 37,000-square-foot site since they purchased it in June, but Alderman Louise Hammond said residents and preservationists were not informed of the date the demolition would take place.

NOT EVERY old building in Annapolis is historic.Some properties obviously do qualify. The Old Treasury Building on State Circle, built in the 1730s, is the oldest building in the state, according to the Historic Annapolis Foundation. The William Paca House on Prince George Street was built about 30 years later for a planter and governor who signed the Declaration of Independence.But five vacant houses in the 100 block of West St. aren't worthy of perpetual preservation just because they're old.Three of the century-old buildings are covered in vinyl siding -- yellow, lime green and olive.

One-alarm fire hits house in Perry Hall; three injured 2 A one-alarm fire struck a house in Perry Hall at 5:21 a.m. yesterday, Baltimore County Fire Department officials said. The fire in the first block of Heathrow Manor Court, caused minor injuries to three occupants, who were taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. The fire was extinguished in about an hour. Officials didn't release the names of the victims or the cause of the fire. David Kohn Commemorative MARC tickets still available Commemorative tickets are still available for MARC train service to next month's presidential inauguration, according to Maryland Transit Administration officials.

Go West The Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks brings a touch of the West to Baltimore. As part of its Wednesday Lunch and Leisure series, the department hosts a Western hoedown. Bring food and listen to a live band play country music. There will be dancing and free giveaways. The hoedown is noon-1 p.m. Wednesday at War Memorial Plaza, 100 N. Holliday St. Call 410-396-7900 or go to baltimorecity.gov. Free First Friday comes early Because of Fourth of July events, this week's First Friday outdoor festival in Bel Air will be held today.

Annapolis teens charged in car vandalism Two Annapolis teenagers were charged with vandalizing four cars after police found them with four cans of spray paint in their pockets, city police said. Police called to the area of Regent Street and Damsel Lane about 7:30 p.m. June 1 arrested the two youths there. A 13-year-old from Garden Gate Lane and a 14-year-old from the 1100 block of Tyler Ave. were charged with malicious destruction of property. Teen arrested in robbery at Quizno's An Annapolis teenager was arrested and charged with robbing a city sandwich shop at gunpoint, police said.

The state has approved plans by Annapolis and a Harford County city to establish arts and entertainment districts, allowing them to offer tax abatements to artists and culture-oriented businesses in an effort to ignite economic development. The Capital City Cultural Arts District, whose boundaries have been revised several times, will be anchored by Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, and will encompass the historically black Clay Street area and run along West Street to Brown Street.

A homeless man's death two days after being attacked on a busy street in Annapolis last month has been declared a homicide, city police said yesterday. The state medical examiner's office ruled that Russell Myers Lockett III, 53, died of pneumonia, aggravated by blunt force trauma. He is the fifth homicide victim in Annapolis this year, putting the city on pace to eclipse its record of eight last year. Anne Arundel County police called to the 1000 block of Bestgate Road on March 15 found Lockett suffering from a broken rib and punctured lung.

Responding to an onslaught of criticism, Annapolis officials have drastically changed the boundaries of the proposed "Capital City Arts and Entertainment District" to exclude outer West Street and incorporate inner West Street and the Clay Street area. The city has also struck the word "entertainment" from the district's name to placate residents who argued it would bring an onslaught of entrepreneurs requesting 2 a.m. liquor licenses. It is now called the "Capital City Cultural Arts Center."

Anne Catharine Green gave birth to 14 children and raised the six surviving ones with her husband in Colonial Annapolis before his untimely death thrust her into an unlikely new role: America's first female newspaper publisher. She allowed no interruption of the printing of his paper, the Maryland Gazette, announcing on the front page after his passing in 1767, according to the state archives, that she "shall venture to supply [customers] with News-Papers, on the same Terms he did." After getting complaints from William Paca about anonymous letters to the editor directed at him, she began requiring submissions to have names attached.

Art festival -- The Inner West Street Association will present the First Sunday Arts Festival from noon to 5 p.m. Sept. 2 on the first block of West Street from Church Circle to Calvert Street. This event will feature live music from Jeff Antoniuk Master Class Jazz Bands and Joe McCarthy Quartet, artists, vendors and crafts, street performers and sidewalk dining. Free. 410- 741-3267 or www.goweststreet.com.

THE PROBLEM Navigating the narrow sidewalks on the south side of West Street between Linden and Locust avenues in Annapolis is like riding an amusement park roller-coaster, and one that is in not very good shape. THE BACKSTORY For the past two years, the State Highway Administration has been upgrading West Street west of downtown Annapolis between the Taylor Avenue roundabout and Route 2. The section of West Street near Russell Street used to be lined with residences and is now filled with a hodgepodge of car dealerships, yarn shops and small, single-family houses converted into law offices and other businesses.

With an explosion of high-end retail on the western fringe of Annapolis, city government and business leaders are exploring joining a national downtown revitalization program that would help quaint shops in the historic city center keep their competitive edge. Though bustling, Annapolis wants to lure the program to make its harbor-side economy healthier, leaders say. Last week, a crowd of residents and business owners in downtown Annapolis heard Main Street Maryland officials tell them that the program, part of a national network that has successfully re-energized more than 1,200 historic business districts, could help Annapolis.