Monument City » Sports

Bell Tower at Stadium Place (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Mon, 25 May 2009 22:18:53 +0000

Location

E 33rd Street, between Ellerslie Avenue & Ednor Road (Street View)

GPS: 39° 19′ 45.00″ N 76° 36′ 5.40″ W

History

Built in 2006, this location is also known as Thanksgiving Place Labyrinth, and was a joint project between the Govans Ecumenical Development Corporation and the TKF Foundation, “a private grant-making foundation” involved in a civic development project called “Open Spaces, Sacred Places,” integrating meditative green spaces in the midst of bustling urban locations. The Bell Tower at Stadium Place stands just slightly west of what was once the entrance gates of old Memorial Stadium, the former location also of another significant Baltimore monument, the Memorial Urn, the urn, which contains soil from military cemeteries around the world, was moved to Camden Yards.

Notes

The Bell Tower park at Stadium Place also features a stone labyrinth on the ground, surrounded on one side by a white wooden structure, trees, flowering gardens and benches. Nearby is the state’s largest YMCA and the retirement community called Stadium Place. There is also an all volunteer-built playground behind the YMCA on 33rd and Ellerslie. When a fire burned most of the playground, volunteers assembled once again to re-build it, a testament to the civic spirit of area residents.

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Links

On Panoramio & Flickr

Memorial Stadium Urn at Camden Yards

admin — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:24:34 +0000

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Location

S Eutaw Street & W Lee Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 16′ 55.96″ N 76° 37′ 14.29″ W

History

Memorial Stadium was completed in 1950. The outdoor professional sports arena was a renovation of the old Baltimore (or Municipal) Stadium that was built, in 1922, on 33rd Street in Waverly. The north Baltimore site was primarily the home of the city’s football clubs until 1944 when Orioles Park, an all wood framed structure nearby that housed the baseball team, burned to the ground completely, prompting the Orioles to move into the facility up the street. The larger stadium interested Major League Baseball, with it’s capacity for crowds in excess of 20,000, helping Baltimore finally receive a full charter franchise. Six years later the re-construction was complete and the new park was officially opened as the home of the Orioles and the National Football league’s Colts. In 1976, after the conclusion of a Colts-Steelers football game a single engine plane crashed into the upper deck. The pilot was apparently buzzing the stadium, but his approach was too low. No one was hurt in the incident.

The front facade of the stadium was a memorial to the Veterans of both World Wars. Dedicated in 1954, the edifice was nearly saved during the razing of the structure, but was finally taken down in 2002. The resulting materials from the demolition were used to create an artificial reef in the Chesapeake Bay. The military veterans memorial was moved to the southern side of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It consists of an urn on pedestal and a large sloped wall displaying the message once inscribed on the old memorial. The urn contains soil from military cemeteries around the world. The monument was rededicated on March 31, 2003, as part of the Orioles opening day ceremonies.

Notes

The old ballpark’s home in Waverly is now the site of Stadium Place, a complex containing multiple apartment buildings for seniors and the states largest YMCA. A memorial Bell Tower has been erected, along with an Egyptian-style pergola, just slightly west of the stadium’s original front gates.

Nearby

Links

Memorial Stadium on Wikipedia
On Panoramio & Flickr

Johnny Unitas Statue (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Thu, 21 May 2009 13:05:56 +0000

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Location

W Hamburg Street & Russell Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 16′ 45.09″ N 76° 37′ 19.89″ W

History

Johnny Unitas was one of the greatest American football players of all time. When he retired from the league, in 1974, he held practically every record for quarterbacks, finishing his career with 290 touchdowns and over 40,000 yards passing. After attending Louisville University, Unitas was drafted by his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers, but did not make the team. He eventually landed at a tryout for the Baltimore Colts and was asked to join the organization. That following NFL season when the Colts starting quarterback went down he was inserted in to the starting lineup, and ended up winning the MVP award. The next year he led the team to their first of back-to-back championships in what sports historians call the greatest game ever played. Unitas died of heart attack on September 11, 2002.

Notes

The fourteen-foot tall monument depicts Unitas in a throwing motion, seemingly heaving a long pass down field. Erected at the north entrance of Ravens Stadium, the statue sits in the middle of Unitas Plaza. Giant posters of the legendary quarterback flank the ticket gates on either side of the bronze likeness. 290 replicas of the sculpture, each standing 21 inches tall, were created as well, one for each touchdown Unitas threw during his professional career. Dedicated on October 20, 2002, the statue is the creation of artist Frederick Kail. A slightly smaller Unitas memorial also made by Kail is situated at the Louisville University football stadium.

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Creator’s Game Lacrosse Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 16:12:26 +0000

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Location

113 W University Parkway next to Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood Field (Street View)

GPS: 39° 20′ 5.20″ N 76° 37′ 17.90″ W

History

Since 1983, sculptor Jud Hartmann has focused his work on the The Woodland Tribes of the Northeast – The Iroquoian and Algonkians series. These limited edition pieces are on display at Hartmann’s Blue Hill, Maine gallery. He has cast over fifty works in this style, one of which stands outside the Lacrosse Museum at Johns Hopkins University. Dehontshihgwa-ehs or Creator’s Game consists of two Iroquois Indians playing lacrosse, one stealing a pass intended for the other. The monument was dedicated in 1992.

Notes

On the base of the sixteen foot tall structure an inscription reads: “The game of Lacrosse was given by the Creator to the Ho-de-no-saunee (Iroquois) and other Native American people many ages ago. It is from the Iroquois that the modern game most directly descends. May this sculpture forever honor the Iroquois and the origins of Lacrosse.” The monument stands in front of The Lacrosse Museum at Johns Hopkins University directly to the right of Homewood Field.

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Links

Babe Ruth Memorial (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:01:11 +0000

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Location

S Eutaw Street and W Camden Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 5.98″ N 76° 37′ 14.48″ W

Also known as “Babe’s Dream”

History

Hailed as the first true American sports celebrity superstar by ESPN, Babe Ruth was born in Baltimore’s Pigtown neighborhood. Ruth was signed by Jack Dunn to the then-minor league Baltimore Orioles in 1914. The Babe got his nickname when Dunn, who had to become Ruth’s legal guardian to sign him, was seen by his team with the young baseball player. The Oriole veterans dubbed him ‘Jack’s newest babe’, and the name stuck. On July 9, 1914, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox. This statue was dedicated in 1998 and is by sculptor Susan Luery and New Arts Foundry in Hampden.

Notes

“Babe’s Dream” resides in a plaza south of Eutaw and Camden, in the northwest corner of Camden Yards. Also in the courtyard are a number of waist-high numerical sculptures commemorating famous ballplayers. The building to the immediate east of the plaza was once the Camden Street station and now houses the Babe Ruth Birthplace & Sports Legends Museum.

Nearby

Links

Sculptor’s website
Babe’s Dream Marker on the Historical Marker Database
On Panoramio & Flickr