Maryland Daily Record Maryland's trusted source for business and legal news
Everyman Theatre plans second act
The Everyman Theatre held a groundbreaking Tuesday for its new West Side venue in Baltimore after more than four years of fundraising. Bank of America donated the West Fayette Street building, which opened in 1910 as a vaudeville theater and closed in 1990. Construction is expected to be completed by September 2012. City officials say they expect the theater to provide a boost to the neighborhood.
Site bought for retail plaza
A 31-acre parcel on the waterfront in Baltimore’s Canton neighborhood once owned by First Mariner Bancorp CEO Edwin F. Hale Sr. was sold Tuesday to BCP Investors LLC, which includes principals from Chesapeake Real Estate Group and Birchwood Capital Partners. The new partnership plans to break ground for a 275,000-square-foot retail plaza there next year.
W. Md. drilling on hold
Through an executive order issued Monday, Gov. Martin O’Malley imposed a de facto halt to efforts to begin drilling for natural gas in Western Maryland’s portion of the Marcellus Shale. O’Malley ordered a study of the safety of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” that will take up to three years to complete. The General Assembly defeated calls for a moratorium on such drilling.
Slots revenue drops
Maryland saw its first monthly decline of 2011 in slots revenue when its two casinos brought in $266,537 less in May than in April. The casinos brought in $13.2 million last month, the Maryland State Lottery Agency announced Monday. Hollywood Casino Perryville generated about $9.6 million, and the Casino at Oceans Downs made about $3.7 million.
Jobs gains ‘disappointing’
Maryland’s performance in job creation after the recession has been “extremely disappointing” and the state is not doing enough to stimulate economic growth, said Anirban Basu, chairman and CEO of Sage Policy Group, in a speech Monday to the Maryland Economic Development Association.
Southwest Airlines growth
International expansion by Southwest Airlines into the Caribbean, Central America and eventually European markets will likely be a boon for Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, according to the airlines’ CEO, Gary Kelly. He was speaking at a BWI Business Partnership meeting.
Immigrant-tuition petition
Local elections boards had counted 21,919 valid signatures by Tuesday for the petition drive to overturn the Maryland law allowing illegal immigrants to attend universities at in-state tuition rates. That is 3,000 more names than needed for the drive to meet its first goal, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections website.
New highway’s traffic
The Inter-County Connector has performed up to expectations in its first three months, transportation officials said Wednesday. Almost 1 million drivers have used Route 200, a toll road that connects Interstate 270 and Georgia Avenue in Montgomery County.
