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.