New Baltimore signs part of project directing visitors to city's African American cultural heritage sites
BALTIMORE - Visit Baltimore and the Baltimore National Heritage Area unveiled a new sign on Pratt Street.
The sign is the first phase of a multi-phase project to install wayfinding signage throughout Baltimore to show residents and tourists how to get to African American cultural heritage sites.
"This is a great day for the City of Baltimore, the state of Maryland, everyone in the tourism space," said Al Hutchinson, from Visit Baltimore.
There are attractions throughout Charm City.
"It was past due for us to recognize these attractions," Hutchinson said.
They are attractions that tourism officials say are keepers of Baltimore and Maryland's rich history.
"Baltimore is the birthplace of African American history," Hutchinson. "When you think about Frederick Douglass, Thurgood Marshall, Billie Holiday, and others, who really did a lot to drive the storytelling of African-American contributions to, not only Baltimore, but to the country."
The first sign, installed as a part of a state grant, was unveiled on Tuesday on Pratt Street, directing visitors to the Reginald F. Lewis Museum.
"I think the assumption is that people know where things are in the city, people know what things are in the city," said Terri Lee Freeman, President of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum. "They see that big black building on the corner of President and Pratt, and there are a whole bunch of people who have no clue what happens there."
The new signs feature a map, with directions on how to get to the city's African-American cultural heritage sites.
Freeman said this project is about more than just signs. It will also lead to more tourist dollars being spent in Baltimore's cultural and art community.
"What we are seeing now is really a statement that says these museums and institutions are just as important and can have just as much impact on the people in the city and people who come to the city," Freeman said.
