Bricking Annapolis

By Ellen Moyer

The designation of West Street as an arts and entertainment district was a catalyst for the vibrant quarter we enjoy today. We were awarded the Maryland distinction during my final term as Mayor. It came with not just a star on a map, but some financial incentives as well as recognition for state promotions. Our current mayor, Gavin Buckly, and his fellow restaurateur, Brian Callahan, were pioneers and visionaries who brought events, festivals, and outdoor activities to West Street. We added the flagpoles to streetlights and the bricks. 

The bricks, you say? What do the bricks have to do with it?

When West Street was undergoing its very painful reconstruction to update failing utilities and a roadbed still riddled with trolley tracks, the consolation was the burying of unsightly overhead wires and aluminum poles. The sidewalks were to be replaced with bricks and the glaring overhead streetlights with the same historic, human scale lantern models as Main Street. 

The project was well underway when I had a brainstorm. Why not brick the street, too? At least the first block, in the Historic District. Yes, it caused the project engineers some headaches. Most last minute changes do. But the reward would be an attractive entrance that looked more like a piazza than a street. 

So after the businesses of West Street suffered through the interruptions of construction (not to mention loss of water service when they discovered unrecorded pipes, tanks and other detritus covered by centuries of construction,) West Street was ready to celebrate. Attractive street furniture was placed, streetlights were adorned with colorful flags from the City (our bespoke Navy banners were the first,) and hanging flower baskets. Planters were placed on the bricked sidewalks and clutter replaced with attractive trash receptacles. Lively sidewalk cafes brought their own energy. 

But the bricked street had an even brighter future as a venue. Weekly dining under the stars was introduced in summer months. Lights were festooned overhead from one side to another. Music and dancing completed the atmosphere as restaurants took their cafes from the sidewalks to their plaza. 

I hope Church Circle will be repaved in my lifetime — with bricks, not asphalt. It will complete the transition from Main Street to West, and finish the job we started with the bricking of the St. Anne’s sidewalk (another story.)

The perfect grace note to this charming, historic scene is the flower vendor at Reynolds Tavern, where the Circle meets West. All he needs is a bricked Circle to frame his business.

Ellen Moyer is a former mayor of Annapolis. She may be contacted at [email protected].