City to honor Schaefer with statue at the harbor

Baltimore’s Inner Harbor will get a statue of the politician who pushed for its revitalization: former Mayor and Gov. William Donald Schaefer.

The city’s public art commission voted Wednesday to approve a more modest design for the Schaefer statue. Commissioners reacted coolly to plans in November 2007 for placing a bronze likeness of Mr. Schaefer atop a 6-foot pedestal.

The new bronze statue will be about 8 feet tall and sit atop a two-tiered marble platform that’s meant to evoke the steps of a Baltimore row house. It depicts Mr. Schaefer, a Democrat, waving with his left hand and holding a memo with his right hand.

“He was a man of memos,” artist Rodney Carroll said, noting that many of his missives included the command, “Do it now!”

Mr. Schaefer said Wednesday that he was pleased the statue had been approved and he thanked Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., who is bankrolling the project.

“I don’t have to look at any plans when it’s Hackerman,” he said. “I trust him completely.”

Mr. Hackerman did not return a message seeking comment.

Some commissioners expressed concern that out-of-town visitors would not grasp the significance of the memo in Mr. Schaefer’s hand, and others quibbled with the height of the statue, the size of the head and the cut of his suit.

Mr. Carroll said he welcomed continued input from the commission and stressed that the model he presented was a mere sketch.

Mr. Carroll was clearly irked by some of the criticism, and he declined to expand afterward on his feelings about the commissioners’ comments. But he was pleased that the sculpture was approved.

“It’s nice to move ahead with this project,” he said.

Mr. Schaefer served as mayor from 1971 to 1987, as governor from 1987 to 1995 and as state comptroller from 1999 to 2007. The target completion date for the project is Nov. 2, 2009 - Mr. Schaefer’s 88th birthday.

“The faster the better,” he said. “I may not be around that long.”

The statue will be placed on the west shore of the Inner Harbor, between the Harborplace Light Street pavilion and the Baltimore Visitor Center, and will be surrounded by landscaping. The harbor became a major tourist attraction during Mr. Schaefer’s tenure as mayor with the opening of Harborplace and the National Aquarium, both of which were built by Mr. Hackerman’s company.

The original design was supported by First Mariner Bancorp, but he backed out after the commission questioned its height and location.

Mr. Carroll said the revised design allowed him to better capture Mr. Schaefer’s personality. Mike Golden, Mr. Schaefer’s longtime friend and former spokesman, said the effort was successful.

“It makes him look approachable,” he said, “which is what he’s like.”