Preserving and promoting Baltimore's historic buildings and neighborhoods.
Author: Eli
Eli Pousson started as a Field Officer at Baltimore Heritage in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation in October 2009. Prior to moving to Baltimore, Eli worked for the DC Office of Historic Preservation and completed graduate work in anthropology and historic preservation at the University of Maryland College Park. Eli continues to work with the Lakeland Community Heritage Project and other heritage organizations in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Baltimore’s Commission on Historical and Architectural Preservation has just published the first update to the official Baltimore City Designated Landmarks List since 2003. This report features summaries and photos for each of the 164 Baltimore City landmarks and public interior landmarks – from the designation of Baltimore City Hall back in January 1971 through Old Dunbar High School designated this past spring.
The new publication features cross-referenced, easy-to-use overview maps and index as well as information about the benefits, protections, and review procedures for Baltimore City Landmarks. Download a copy online today!
In February, we celebrated the announcement that Baltimore’s Hebrew Orphan Asylum received over $2.5 million in support from the Maryland Sustainable Communities Tax Credit program. In order to secure the claim to these tax credits, the Coppin Heights Community Development Corporation was required to pay a 3% fee – over $75,000 – which posed a tough challenge for a small non-profit. For the past several months, Dr. Gary Rodwell has worked with Baltimore Heritage and other partners to continue promoting interest in the project and identify partners who could provide the necessary funding. Thankfully, Coppin State University has stepped forward to pay the fee and secure the Hebrew Orphan Asylum’s claim to the state historic tax credits. With this support, the Coppin Heights CDC is in a strong position to continue planning and push forward with fundraising for the rehabilitation of the building.
The past few weeks have also marked the end of work by the Red Line Station Area Advisory Committees – groups of volunteer residents, business owners, and other stakeholder who collaborated with designers, planners, architects and land-use experts to bring their insight into the design and planning of the nineteen proposed Red Line stations. The Rosemont Station Area Advisory Committee produced a vision plan (find a PDF here) for the future of the Rosemont area that highlighted the importance of historic district designation for neighborhood revitalization, established the reuse of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum as a key goal and considered landmark designation for the Hebrew Orphan Asylum and other historic properties.
Baltimore Heritage is helping make this vision a reality by starting to prepare a historic district nomination for the neighborhoods of Greater Rosemont and by working with the Coppin Heights CDC towards the restoration and reuse of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum. As we continue to strive for the revitalization of historic West Baltimore neighborhoods, we welcome any questions or suggestions.
Come out to Artscape this month and join us for a free walking tour on the history of the theaters, schools, factories and more that made North Avenue one of Baltimore’s most vibrant and creative neighborhoods decades before it ever became an arts district. We’re offering five identical tours from Friday through Sunday during the festival. Don’t forget to bring a bottle of water to beat the summer heat!
Station North Walking Tours
Friday, July 20 – 5:30pm and 7:30 pm
Saturday, July 21 – 3:30 pm and 5:30 pm
Sunday, July 22 – 3:30 pm
RSVP online today! Meet at the southwest corner of Charles Street and Lafayette Avenue.
Parkway Theater, 1915. Courtesy The Photography Collections, UMBC, P75-54-N458g.
Today, Station North has a growing reputation as a hub for art, performance and design but it also boasts a long history of creativity in industry, arts & entertainment. In the first few decades of the 20th century, the inventor of the modern bottle cap built his factory on Guilford Avenue, entrepreneurs on Charles Street pushed the theater business in new directions, and the stately Polytechnic High School on North Avenue trained thousands of young engineers, draftsman and designers who helped to shape Baltimore’s industrial growth. Today, architects, entrepreneurs and educators are adapting these old buildings to new uses from artist studios to the city’s new Design High School. Join us as we explore stories from the past and present of the Station North Arts District on a one-hour walking tour past local landmarks and lesser known gems from the Parkway Theater to Penn Station!
This project is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, creator of the Baker Artists Awards, and Station North Arts & Entertainment, Inc. Special thanks to Elise Hoffman who contributed to the research on this project and will be leading our tours!
Bmore Historic — Baltimore’s preservation, public history and cultural heritage unconference — is back for 2012! Save the date on your calendar today:
Bmore Historic 2012
Friday, October 12, 8:30 am to 3:30 pm
Maryland Historical Society
201 West Monument Street
More than 100 local historians, humanities scholars, preservation advocates, museum professionals and archivists joined us at the inaugural Bmore Historic unconference in December 2011. Thanks to the continued generosity of the Maryland Historical Society and the hard work of our small organizing committee, we’re coming back on October 12, 2012 for more discussions on public history, historic preservation and community development in the Baltimore region and across the state of Maryland. We’re also pleased to announce our partnership with the Baltimore Cultural Education Roundtable to engage educators from local museums and cultural organizations.
Stay tuned for an update on registration in the next few months or take a look at our about page for more information. Don’t forget to join the Bmore Historic Facebook Group or connect with Bmore Historic on Twitter @bmorehistoric. We look forward to seeing you in the fall!
Baltimore Heritage and Retrofit Baltimore are offering a new joint workshop in Charles Village on upgrading your home’s energy efficiency while saving money with city and state historic tax credits. Working with Retrofit Baltimore on energy efficiency upgrades can improve your home’s comfort and reduce your energy bills by up to 40%, minimize your environmental impact and create jobs for underserved Baltimore residents. For homeowners in historic districts, like Charles Village, Homeland, Hampden and more, many of these improvements, including replacement HVAC systems, insulation, and wood window restoration, may also qualify for the city and state historic tax credit programs. Find out how to check if you are in a historic district with our overview of historic districts or learn more with our guide to historic tax credits. Don’t forget to take a look at our collection of resources for historic homeowners.
Join us at the Charles Village Benefits District offices on June 27 for a quick one-hour workshop that offers an introduction to weatherization, energy audits, incentives for energy efficiency, and historic tax credits. RSVP today!
Weatherization & Historic Tax Credits Workshop
Wednesday, June 27, 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Charles Village Community Benefits District Office
2434 Saint Paul Street, Baltimore, MD 21218
Questions? Contact Eli Pousson, Baltimore Heritage at pousson@baltimoreheritage.org or Evie Schwartz, Retrofit Baltimore at eschwartz@retrofitbaltimore.org.
