Best wishes to developer Bramble and Harborplace

As someone who can remember bananas being unloaded from United Fruit Line freighters at Pratt Street and who later was a Harborplace “celebrity Santa Claus” at the same spot, I am writing to wish Baltimore developer P. David Bramble well with Harborplace (“Reinventing Harborplace: Baltimore needs a safe, vibrant, inclusive and fun place to gather,” April 7).

It is quite promising that someone from our community can bring energy, experience, creativity and hometown hustle to the job. In the 16 years I edited Baltimore Magazine, Jim Rouse’s pavilions, the National Aquarium, Oriole Park at Camden Yards and, yes, John Waters came to signify new stuff that really hit the mark. So beyond recreating Harborplace’s old glories, I’m wishing Mr. Bramble and downtown Baltimore success coming up with more new ones.

— Stan Heuisler, Baltimore

Give credit to those who made ballpark a success

The article recounting the planning and construction of Oriole Park (“As Oriole Park at Camden Yards turns 30, a look at how it all began: ‘It’s like seeing one of your children grow up,’ ” April 3) was a delight to read.

A reader might, however, incorrectly conclude who was responsible for the “Route, Route, Route for the Home Team” information campaign described in the article. Credit goes to individuals at Trahan, Burden and Charles, including Sandy Hillman, Alan Charles and Brent Burkhardt. They developed and implemented this campaign.

The project was a successful collaborative effort involving the Baltimore Orioles and the Maryland Stadium Authority. Many deserve credit for the wonderful appearance of the Oriole Park, including the Orioles organization (Larry Lucchino, Janet Marie Smith, Bob Aylward), and HOK Sport (now Populous), which was the architectural firm of record. Less visible were people such as Herb Belgrad, then chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority and Bruce Hoffmann, then the authority’s executive director. While not responsible for the design features at Oriole Park, they, along with many others in private engineering, financing and legal firms, made sure it could be constructed as planned.

Going beyond the stadium structure itself, transportation improvements and services related to Oriole Park were undertaken by the city of Baltimore and various agencies within the Maryland Department of Transportation. Interstate 395 was modified, the Hamburg and Ostend street bridges rebuilt, streets surrounding the stadium reconstructed and highway signing installed throughout the Baltimore region. Special express bus and MARC rail services were instituted and Light Rail service adjustments implemented to handle stadium crowds.

The extent and success of these collaborative efforts highlights the role of one other to whom much credit is due: Gov. William Donald Schaefer. Without his efforts, it is likely that Oriole Park would not have been at Camden Yards. The project also exemplified his ability to mobilize the private sector as well as public agencies to effectively undertake a task.

— David Chapin, CockeysvilleThe writer is a former official of the Maryland Department of Transportation who coordinated transportation improvements at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Does the US lack courage to challenge Russia?

The response of the United States to Vladimir Putin’s war has been and continues to be far too little and too late (“Russia faces global outrage over bodies in Ukraine’s streets and new evidence of atrocities,” April 4). In retrospect, as soon as Russian tanks appeared massed near the Ukrainian border, the United States should have sent fighter planes, anti-aircraft missiles, cruise missiles and other arms to Ukraine along with U.S. military personnel to train the Ukrainian military in their use.

Now that Ukraine is not safe, the U.S. should train Ukrainian military personnel at U.S. bases and send them back to Ukraine with as many weapons as they could use. The United States helping Ukraine is not solely for the benefit of Ukraine but also for the benefit of the U.S. and NATO allies in the defense against Russian aggression. Mr. Putin is not going to stop at Ukraine.

If the United States doesn’t have the courage to fight the Russians in Ukraine, it better prepare to fight the Russians in the U.S. A Russian official has already said that the “United States should give Alaska back to Russia.”

— Bernard Bartos, Ellicott City