A radical idea for helping Baltimore's harbor - uncover the Jones Falls
While a lot of attention has been focused lately on the sorry state of Baltimore's harbor, conditions there won't improve much until the watershed itself gets better.
Toward that end, some architects from the University of Virginia are proposing a radical remedy - "daylighting," or uncovering, part of the lower Jones Falls, which which flows underground two miles under city streets before emptying out in the harbor.
The Jones Falls was actually the birthplace of Baltimore, where the first settler, one David Jones, built his house along its banks in the 1600s. The river was a source of drinking water for the fledgling city, and ships reportedly could sail as far inland as Calvert and Lexington.
But growth, flooding and pollution inspired efforts to drain, tame and ultimately bury the troublesome water way around 1915. Finally, in the early 1960s, the subverting of the Jones Falls was completed with the construction of the expressway of the same name along and atop its course. It's just the largest of Baltimore's streams to get buried - experts estimate that two-thirds of the city's waterways are underground now, serving as conduits for storm water washing off city streets and parking lots.
That lower stretch of the Jone Falls is like the mythical River Styx - musty, foul and eternally in darkness. I paddled with some others upstream from the harbor many years ago, and the only living thing we encountered was a somewhat startled looking pigeon roosting in the gloom.
"We only peeked into the openings of the culvert and did not dare to go much further," writes Jorg Sieweke, one of the U.Va. architecture professors. But he and his colleagues would like dare rethinking the Jones Falls, and turning back the clock.
The U.Va. architects aren't the first to envision uncovering Baltimore's buried streams. Last year, a local architect, Gabriel Kroiz, and Baltimore's Harbor Waterkeeper, Eliza Steinmeier, suggested in Urbanite magazine that the stream encased beneath Central Avenue, once known as Harford Run, ought to be daylighted. They argued that opening up that old waterway to the sun would help restore its water quality while also creating a walkable and bikeable linear park leading to the harbor.
Nothing much came of that idea. But perhaps the latest suggestion to reopen the Jones Falls could spark some real thinking about the unthinkable. There are lots of financial and practical hurdles to reverse-engineering the Jones Falls, of course. There's the expressway, for one thing, not to mention all the city streets and other infrastructure that would need to be redone.
"The proposals I have been developing at UVa are truly speculative," Sieweke acknowledged, "but sometimes this is how things get started. I have seen large transformations in my professional life, and I am under the impression that Baltimore would benefit from bolder moves/ goals."
To learn more, Sieweke and two U.Va. colleagues, Professors Robin Dripps and Lucia Phinney, will be presenting their idea today (Tuesday, March 1) from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Windup Space, 12 W. North Ave. Their presentation is part of "Design Conservation," a monthly forum made possible by the Baltimore Community Foundation and D:Center Baltimore.
Comments
I really don't see the point. It would not improve the quality of the Jones Falls enough to matter and the cost and disruption to the City and the existing urban fabric. To me it comes off as a kewl idea if one is focused on their own narrow interests. But the fact remains that the Jones Falls will always be a dirty and very compromised river due to the intense urbanity of the watershed. It makes more sense to focus on the preserving the mostly uncorrupted waterways of the state and funneling most future development to watersheds like the Jones Falls.
Posted by: Nate | March 1, 2011 8:18 AM
Opening the Jones Falls is a bold idea, and probably a good one, but it will be to no avail if the education of the citizens of Baltimore does not go along with it. We need to make people aware that the streets are not dumping grounds. That the parks where they dump their trash are part of the eco-system of the bay. Look at Herring Run or Moores Run and then drive over Back River on Eastern Avenue, you will see the same trash and junk.
Posted by: Terry | March 1, 2011 9:00 AM
DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! Uncovering this valuable water way and adding the proper riparian boundaries around it will dramatically improve Baltimore's harbor through natural filtration. Concrete pavements leading to concrete pipes, leading to a concerete waterway just increase polution.
Posted by: Stephen A. | March 1, 2011 10:12 AM
Sounds beautiful Dont forget to include the urban brick-brack. Imagine all the beautiful plastc bags stuck in the trees and those colorful snack-food bags floating downstream. Glistening empty malt beverage cans and crack vials make nice wind chimes.
Posted by: Greg F | March 1, 2011 12:26 PM
great point Terry - look at Baltimore City and Baltimore County period... im sure it took you FOREVER to come up with THAT educated thesis.
Posted by: Aaron | March 1, 2011 12:28 PM
I thought the slide presentation was confusing. Something about a culvert and a river. Beat the heck out of me what they were talking about.
Posted by: Cham | March 1, 2011 9:34 PM
Uncovering the Jones Falls is an interesting idea for Baltimore to consider. A similar project was carried out in Seoul on the Cheonggyecheon stream. Here is a link for those who wish to see some inspiring pictures for what can happen when such an endeavor is taken on: http://bit.ly/gHrPB2
Posted by: Steven | March 2, 2011 9:56 AM
Thank you for posting our work and help to expand the discourse, Tim.
For more comprehensive information please refer to my research blog.
www.paradoxcity.org
and to aspects of the student work documented at.
http://www.asla.org/2010studentawards/293.html
Thanks to Ben Stone and the D:Center team to host a great forum off many different voices.
Posted by: Jorg Sieweke | March 2, 2011 11:31 AM
And as usual who is going to pay for this neat project?? Tons of great ideas out there (new arena, soccer stadium, uncover JF, etc.), but they are all just pipe dreams since the city and state are broke and can barely afford to survive daily expenditures.
Posted by: JB | March 2, 2011 12:33 PM
For those naysayers...
Let's not squash discussion on how we can make Baltimore a better place. Obviously this isn't going to happen tomorrow and is merely speculative at this point. However, if residents see something like this as a positive, perhaps it is something we could consider for the future.
Posted by: steven | March 3, 2011 11:23 AM