Yesterday, the City of Baltimore honored its most beloved mayor
and former Maryland governor, William Donald Schaefer with the
unveiling of a statue to memorialize his distinguished political
career in Maryland. The statue lives in the middle of
Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, which is fitting since Schaefer’s most
notable accomplishment was the transformation of the Inner
Harbor from an industrial shipping area to a multi-million
dollar tourist attraction and the gem of Baltimore. The National
Aquarium was one of the first additions to the Inner Harbor. In
the mid-1970s Mayor Schaefer conceived and championed the idea
of an aquarium as a vital component of the redevelopment.
William Donald Schaefer is truly the Aquarium’s hero because if
wasn’t for him, the National Aquarium may not exist today.
Dozens of staff members and volunteers, as well as the
Aquarium’s first board president, Frank Gunther, attended the
ceremony yesterday to pay tribute to the man who brought our
Aquarium to life. Schaefer’s idea for an aqu