Longtime reporter and architecture critic Ed Gunts has been breaking a lot of news this year in the Baltimore Brew.

He was the first to report that Baltimore’s National Aquarium is strongly considering ending the practice of keeping dolphins in captivity.

He broke the news that The Hippo, the legendary gay nightclub in Mt. Vernon, was closing after 43 years and being converted to a CVS.

And he reported on the aquarium’s $4 million waterfront park on the Middle Branch River, subsidized with public funds but never opened to the public — and revealed that aquarium officials had discussed possibly selling it to the real estate company affiliated with Kevin Plank’s Under Armour.

So here’s a little breaking news about Gunts – on Friday he received the “Award for Architectural Advocacy” from the Baltimore chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Transparency and Access

Gunts accepted the honor from chapter president Rob Brennan Friday at the AIA’s annual awards celebration held at the Lithuanian Hall.

“In recognition of Ed Gunts’ long professional career as Baltimore’s Architecture Critic, most recently in his position with the Baltimore Brew,” the award reads.

“His skillful and informative reporting has called for good urban and building design with a focus on transparency of the public process for design and access to Baltimore’s public spaces. ”

Gunts, who formerly was a staff writer and architecture critic for The Baltimore Sun, learned of his award in an email from Brennan.

Brennan told him he was receiving the award for his “informative writing on the current projects across the city.”

“AIA Baltimore and the citizens of Baltimore appreciate your commitment to good design and transparency,” Brennan wrote.

The Brutal(ist) Truth

Here at The Brew we’re proud of Ed’s efforts to shine a light on issues of private ownership vs. public access on the Middle Branch as well as the many other topics we would otherwise never have explored in such depth on the site.

Should we shed a tear for the “swank, luxe, James Bond-y” Chambers Building on Charles Street?

How about the McKeldin Fountain, that Brutalist water feature and plaza that downtown mandarins seem intent on ripping down and making over?

Does Johns Hopkins’ Mattin Center, only 14 years old, deserve the wrecking ball because it is “too much of a fortress walled off from the community?”

And who knew that the renovation of the Archbishop’s grand residence on Charles Street is, among other things, possibly Baltimore’s biggest Formstone removal project ever?

Anyway, congratulations for the good work and a nice award, Ed! Maybe the Brew staff will bring you over to West Covington Park for a picnic lunch to celebrate.