Located in the Mount Vernon neighborhood, a National Historic Landmark District, Mount Vernon Place is the cultural heart of Baltimore. The Peabody Conservatory, the Walters Art Museum and the Engineers Club and Mount Vernon Club frame the four squares; the soaring Washington Monument is at the center. Regrettably, these prominent and underutilized public squares suffer from years of substandard landscaping and deferred maintenance, evidenced by the significant deterioration of the marble balustrades, fountain basins, retaining walls, sidewalks and other architectural elements.

In partnership with Baltimore City, the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy, founded by engaged citizens from the Mount Vernon-Belvedere Association and Friends of Mount Vernon Place, seeks to change this by improving landscaping and maintenance in the short term and securing funds in the longer term for the park’s phased restoration. Although a conservancy is new to Baltimore, the concept of nongovernmental organizations taking on the role of improving the experience of prominent public spaces is not. The Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore has drastically improved the Inner Harbor’s public spaces, as has the Downtown Partnership, which led the restoration of Center Plaza.

Today, the city’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) will take up the Mount Vernon Place master plan. With CHAP approval, the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy can begin raising funds to launch a phased restoration of the park, including the repair and reopening of the Washington Monument to the public. We are pleased that the master plan has broad support; yet, as with many plans that involve change, there is often disagreement. In this case, there is objection to Olin Partnership’s recommendation to remove and replant approximately 100 trees.

We acknowledge and respect the views of those who prefer an alternative to tree replacement and welcome their interest in Mount Vernon Place; however, we must agree to disagree with their point of view. On balance, the tree replacement plan would produce important functional, aesthetic and historic benefits. We note that transformative projects in major public spaces in Baltimore — such as War Memorial Plaza, Center Plaza, the Pratt Street berms, and the Charles Street streetscaping — removed and replaced every tree, producing attractive, safe and active public spaces. In Mount Vernon Place, some trees are dead or dying, others were recently planted and can be relocated, and several obstruct historic views. The interior trees need to be replaced in order to install perimeter sidewalks and to install underground utilities, irrigation, electrical conduit and healthy soils. These critical improvements will make the park accessible to a wider community, ensure the long-term health and vitality of the revitalized landscape and respect the historic integrity and vision of the square’s designers.

The conservancy has proposed a series of measures in response to the concern about replacing trees. First, the number of replacement trees will match or exceed the number of trees removed. Second, replacement trees will be 25-30 feet high, and with 8-inch trunks, providing an immediate shade canopy. Third, planting will occur in a state-of-the-art process, for example, removing and replacing contaminated soil to ensure longevity. Fourth, no tree removal will occur until funding is in place to restore a complete square. Fifth, the conservancy will phase in restoration to allow the city and public to judge the benefits for themselves. Finally, we would like to formalize a standing committee with representatives of groups opposed to tree replacement. We believe that the only way to find compromise is to keep talking.

The restoration of Mount Vernon Place is not inevitable. Absent a group like the conservancy to remain vigilant and advocate for its interest over the long term, the benign neglect will continue unabated. With limited resources, Baltimore City has done what it can to maintain the park, but our partnership can achieve a higher level of care. The conservancy is ready to move forward. We look forward to expanding our partnership to create a great urban space worthy of the neighborhood, institutions and city in which this national treasure is so prominently located.

Henry H. Hopkins, president of the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy, is retired chief legal counsel for T. Rowe Price Associates. His e-mail is henry.hopkins03@gmail.com.

Full article with comments can be found on Baltimoresun.com.

In granting conceptual approval for the parkland, which is in a historic district, the commissioners voted to approve the group’s plans to remove most of the trees on the public squares north and south of the Washington Monument. However, they withheld approval of plans to replace most of the trees on the squares east and west of the monument.

The action by Baltimore’s Commission on Historical and Architectural Preservation gives the nonprofit conservancy the authorization it needed to begin raising money for the project, which it hopes to complete by 2015. In December, the commission gave the conservancy approval to repair the monument — which has been closed to the public since last spring — and other “hardscape” elements of Mount Vernon Place but not the landscaping.

The conservancy and its landscape architect presented a plan last year that called for 117 of the 118 trees in and around the four squares to be replaced with new trees in a slightly different configuration. The plan drew criticism from area residents and others opposed to cutting down mature trees in the heart of the city, and the commission postponed its vote.

At the start of Tuesday’s meeting, conservancy representatives said they had modified their proposal to preserve certain trees, but still wanted to take down 114. The conservancy representatives promised to plant at least as many trees as are removed and to replace them with new trees at least 25 to 30 feet high.

During Tuesday’s hearing, the conservancy’s revised plan drew comments from more than a dozen speakers, who said they still questioned why so many trees were targeted for removal.

Commissioner James Cusask said he thought it might be considered “goofy” for the panel to support plans for only two of the four squares. But other commissioners said they believed it was important to approve the plan in concept because they wanted to show they support the conservancy’s effort to complete park improvements.

“To do nothing would be the greatest travesty of all,” commissioner Tom Liebel said, adding that the park is “in dire need of repair.”

Henry Hopkins, chairman of the conservancy, said he was pleased with the panel’s conceptual approval of its plan. “This allows us to move ahead,” he said. “Once people see the north and south parks, I think everyone will be very happy.”

Hugh Ronalds, a member of the Save the Trees Alliance, said he was glad the plan would get more review. “I think we slowed them down,” he said. “We’ve saved the trees for now.”

ed.gunts@baltsun.com

Full article with comments can be found on Baltimoresun.com.