The annual program Preservation Maryland produces was launched in partnership with Maryland Life Magazine to assist with helping protect Maryland's most important historic and cultural sites. The 2008 report was recently published in the March/April Issue of Maryland Life Magazine.

Sites were selected based on their historic and cultural significance and the degree to which they were at risk of being lost due to neglect, insufficient funds, inappropriate development or insensitive public policy, and the potential for a solution. Did BALTIMORE even meet the criteria?

Indeed she did. However, according to Preservation Maryland's Jessica Feldt, 1906 Steam Tug BALTIMORE was never placed on the list of sites submitted for review. She added that nothing was ever sent in to their office alerting them of the condition of the tug.

Nominees were judged by a diverse panel of leaders from around the state with expertise in the identification, protection, preservation or promotion of Maryland's historic resources.

Although the extremely poor condition of the tugs hull is well known to her museum custodians and her caretaker crew, Preservation Maryland said that no one from the staff at the Baltimore Museum of Industry or its seemingly sidelined companion non-profit group, Baltimore & Chesapeake Steamboat Company, ever submitted the Tug BALTIMORE for consideration.

The endangered places selected represent a wide range of historic sites in Maryland. One of those selected is the FLORA A. PRICE, largest remaining skipjack, along with "the last remaining grist mill on the lower Eastern Shore,...the oldest continuously owned amusement park in the United States, and bridges along one of the most historically significant transportation routes in the United States." As Preservation Maryland's Executive Director, Tyler Gearhart, said, "How can we not protect these places?". Preserving these sites is important to enhancing our quality of life and the state's economy.
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Now located in Dorchester County, Maryland, the Skipjack FLORA A. PRICE is a treasure of Maryland's nautical traditions. The ship is the largest remaining skipjack and was part of the last working commercial fleet in the country. The FLORA A. PRICE is in need of repairs to withstand damage from the wind and water. There is commitment to repair the ship but funds are needed before the ship falls victim to the elements.

Huzzah to the crew and supporters of the FLORA A. PRICE for climbing the rigging and shouting her needful condition.

Has the time perhaps arrived for a new set of individuals to create a new non-profit group, free and independent of its predecessors and possessing a go-getter mentality, to attempt saving the last remaining coal-fired tug of its kind in North America from slipping beneath the waves? At the very least, if the BALTIMORE remains afloat a while longer, such a group might submit the BALTIMORE for consideration on next year's Preservation Maryland list.

Anyone care to float such a possibility?

Walt
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• RE: Tug BALTIMORE Misses the Boat - Again! - jeff h schurr 04/25/2008 08:28:15 EDT (1)