Since 2001, the heritage area’s operations have been guided by a management plan. Lengthy and comprehensive, the plans cover a broad range to goals and strategies to accomplish the mission of the Baltimore National Heritage Area.

2013 Baltimore National Heritage Area Management Plan

The most recent plan, finalized in 2013, was drawn heavily from previous plans and is intended to fit the planning requirements of both the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority.

The new plan was required of the national designation and will provide a vision for the heritage area. The new plan outlines a management framework that will enable heritage partners to collaboratively realize that vision.

During the summer of 2012, a number of public meetings and stakeholder listening sessions were held throughout the heritage area. Many of the suggestions and recommendations from these meetings have been folded into the new plan. The U.S. Department of the Interior approved the Baltimore National Heritage Area Management Plan in the summer of 2013.

2013 Comprehensive Management Plan (Note file size: 35.5 MB)

Previous Plans (2001 and 2007)

The precursor to the Baltimore National Heritage Area, known as the Baltimore City Heritage Area, received its designation as a state recognized heritage area in 1997. A management plan for this entity was completed in 2001 under the direction of Baltimore City’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation. A year after city adoption of the plan, the Baltimore City Heritage Area (BCHA) became one of the early heritage areas in the state to be certified by the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority.

In 2005 the heritage area’s Advisory Committee determined that it was time to review and revise priorities and strategies for interpreta­tion, preservation, and promotion of the heritage area. A new planning effort commenced to direct the organization’s focus for the next ten years. The process included review of the earlier 2001 plan to determine the continuing relevance of management goals, joint meetings of the Advisory Committee and the management planning team, and stakeholder meetings with heritage area partners and potential collaborators. Two years later the city adopted the Management Action Plan Update.

Major new management directions recommended in the 2007 update included the expansion of the heritage area boundary and the implementation of an interpretive framework composed of five overarching themes to provide the basis for developing interpretive programs.

The 2007 Management Plan Update was developed in coordination with a feasibility study for a national heritage area. The feasibility study allowed for the 2009 designation of the Baltimore National Heritage Area.