Author: Johns

Johns Hopkins has been the executive director of Baltimore Heritage since 2003. Before that, Johns worked for the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development developing and implementing smart growth and neighborhood revitalization programs. Johns holds degrees from Yale University, George Washington University Law School, and the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment.

2010 Preservation Awards: Northern District Police Station

Image courtesy David Gleason Architects.

Built in 1899 and designed as a police station for Baltimore’s Northern District Police Station, now known as The Castle, at 3355 Keswick Road originally housed police functions such as a call room, gymnasium, holding cells and offices, as well as a stable area and two carriage houses for the mounted police unit in the pre-automobile era. Rehabilitation involved more than extensive work inside and out, including un-doing some unfortunate changes that were made in the 1970s. The original entry way was restored, along with the carriage houses and even the holding cells. The building now houses an array of offices and is a welcome addition to the section of Hampden. The Adaptive Reuse and Compatible Design award went to David Gleason Architects. Enjoy this video of the interior from Ben Frederick Realty Inc. or continue on for more photos.
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2010 Award Winner: Miller’s Court

Miller's Court before renovation, photo courtesy Tom Terranova
Miller's Court after renovations, photo courtesy Brigitte Manekin

Constructed in 1874, the former H. F. Miller and Son’s Tin Box and Can Manufacturing Company at 2601 N. Howard Street served as a manufacturing site for the American Can Company. Vacant for the past 20 years, this landmark building has experienced a renaissance as Miller’s Court–a mixed-use redevelopment offering affordable apartments for teachers and office space for nonprofit organizations that work with the city’s school system. To boot, the rehabilitation work combined the highest preservation standards with the gold standards for green and sustainable design. The end product is already breathing life into Howard Street and the surrounding community. The Adaptive Reuse and Compatible Design Award went to owner Seawall Development, architect Marks Thomas, and contractor Hamel Builders.

Celebrate 150 years of Druid Hill Park on foot and by bike

This year marks the 150th anniversary Baltimore City’s Druid Hill Park, established on October 19, 1860. This major urban park of 745 acres is one of the oldest urban parks in the country and a direct result of the early American Public Parks Movement. Only Central Park in New York City, 1858, and Fairmont Park in Philadelphia, 1859, pre-date Druid Hill Park. To commemorate the occasion, the Friends of Druid Hill Park, in partnership with Baltimore Heritage, AIA Baltimore, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture, and sponsored by Tour dem Parks, Hon, is leading a selection of walking and bicycle tours on Saturday, October 16 including:

  • 11:00 am to 1:00 pm – Historic Park by Foot
  • 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm – Streetcars in the Park
  • 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm – Peddle through the Park Bike Tour

All tours leave from the “Druid 150 Celebration Welcome Center” at the Howard P. Rawlings Conservatory located near the Gywnns Fall’s Parkway entrance to the park, there is only one requirement, all car riders have to have knowledge about the traders policy in order to participate. Water and snacks will be available. Tours are $5/person and pre-registration is strongly encouraged. Click here to register or continue on for more details.

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Historic Baltimore By Bus Tour: Celebrating 50 Years of Saving Historic Places

Step back into 1960 Baltimore:  Charles Center was just underway (with Mies van der Rohe’s One Charles Center two years from completion); Baltimore’s population had dropped by 10,000 people, down to 940,000; city planners had begun crafting highway plans to run through Fell’s Point, Mount Vernon, and West Baltimore; and Baltimore Heritage was founded to preserve historic places in Baltimore City.  To help celebrate our 50th anniversary, we are recreating a bus tour of historic sites in central Baltimore that launched our organization and the historic preservation movement in Baltimore City.  Please join us on this two-hour bus trip with our tour guides, local historians Wayne Schaumburg and Marsha Wise, as we connect the dots of historic preservation and city development between the Baltimore of 1960 and the Baltimore of today.

Tour Information

Date:     Sunday, October 3, 2010
Time:     Two tours (sign up for only one)
10:00 a.m. to noon
1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Cost:      $25
Place:    Meet at the Peale Museum (225 North Holliday Street, Baltimore 21202)
Free parking on the street

Note: The tour is by bus (school bus, to be exact) and will last two hours.  We will get off the bus a few times to examine historic places up close and stretch our legs.

Click Here to Register.
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2010 Preservation Awards: McDowell Building

McDowell Building, Image courtesy Brasher Design

Anchoring the historic Charles Street retail corridor for decades, the McDowell Building at 339 North Charles Street is a solid 4-story historic building that now houses 12 market rate apartments and retail space on the first floor. The preservation and renovation of the building strikingly revealed that there were actually two, not one, original entrances. The project team faithfully brought this dual-entry system back, along with recreating original millwork and saving the leaded glass transoms. With historic rehabilitation tax credits to help, the building once again is a great asset to historic Charles Street. The Adaptive Reuse and Compatible Design Award went to architect Brasher Design and contractors John E. Day Associates.

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