Category: Preservation

Take action now: Write to your Senator and help save the Historic Tax Credit

Miller's Court
Miller’s Court, 2009

Last month, the leadership of the Senate Finance Committee adopted a “blank slate approach” to tax reform where all tax expenditures for both corporations and individuals including the Federal Historic Tax Credit would be eliminated from the tax code. Under this plan, preserving the historic tax credit requires Senators to make a case for it directly with an argument that the historic tax credit helps the economy grow, make the tax code fairer, or effectively promotes other important policy objectives.

We know that the historic tax credit is an important economic driver supporting private investment and creating good jobs. The tax credit is essential to level the playing field for rehabilitating existing buildings when comparing costs and incentives with new construction. By supporting investments in historic preservation, like Miller’s Court, the American Brewery Building, or Mill No. 1, helps to revitalize neighborhoods, support local economies, and create lasting improvements in Baltimore and around the country.

Please reach out now – before July 26 – by phone or email to Senators Cardin and Mikulski and ask that they include the Historic Tax Credit as a priority in their letters to the Senate Finance Committee.

Find more information on this issue and the historic tax credit from Preservation Action or join our email list for updates on this issue in the months ahead.

American Ice Company listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Built in 1911, the American Ice Company is an enduring reminder of West Baltimore’s industrial development with a striking brick facade on West Franklin Street and a powerhouse that backs up to the railroad tracks. Baltimore Heritage nominated this distressed landmark to the National Register of Historic Places last fall with support from the building’s owner. We just received notice that the building was successfully listed on the National Register on July 3!

As plans for the Baltimore Red Line continue to develop, we are optimistic that this factory has the potential to support the revitalization of the West Baltimore MARC Station Area and remain an iconic landmark for generations to come. Download the full National Register nomination to learn more about this unusual factory and the history of industrial ice-making in Baltimore.

St. John’s Has Left the Building: Congregation Puts Church Up For Sale

Mary Valle writing for the Baltimore Fishbowl shared a thoughtful reflection on St. John’s Mt. Washington Episcopal Church and their decision to put their 1928 Romanesque Revival church on the market for $1.8 million. St. John’s Has Left the Building: Congregation Puts Church Up For Sale:

Like many congregations, St. John’s was faced with a gigantic, resource-eating building that swallowed more of its endowment every year. Senior Warden (that’s like being the chair of a board of directors) Sara Fawcett-Lee said that, when she took the job seven years ago, the outgoing Warden told her that the church was going to have to be sold. The vestry (which is like a nonprofit board: members are nominated and elected, serve specific terms and follow bylaws) decided to offer the building for rent, and when no renters came, put it up for sale.

Laser Scanning the “Two Sisters” Historic Wooden Homes in Fell’s Point for The Preservation Society

We are glad to share a guest post from Joe Nicoli, Heritage Scanning Specialist with Direct Dimensions, Inc. – a local technology company that specializes in 3D laser scanning and modelling. Their past work has included scanning the interior of the Maryland State House and documenting cracks in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in precise detail. Direct Dimensions is now working with The Preservation Society and the Dell Corporation to document the Two Sisters Houses at 612 and 614 Wolfe Street – two of only a handful of Baltimore’s wooden houses that have survived since the late 18th and early 19th centuries:

612-614 S. Wolfe Street
612-614 S. Wolfe Street, 2012

Over the winter, Bryan Blundell from Dell Corporation had approached Direct Dimensions with a project to completely laser scan the Two Sisters Houses in Fell’s Point. On a sunny afternoon in March, myself and another technician with Direct Dimensions took our laser scanning equipment down to Fell’s Point and in just 30 minutes created a perfectly accurate 3D digital model of the exterior of the property.

The Two Sisters are two of just a handful of remaining wooden houses in Baltimore’s Fell’s Point. These buildings were donated to the Preservation Society by the Dashiell-Marine family. The name, The Two Sisters, recognizes the efforts of the Dashiell sisters, Mary and Eleanor, to save these and other buildings in Fell’s Point. Since that time, the Society has worked steadily to develop a plan for the saving and utilization of these significant architectural examples of early life in Fell’s Point.

3D scanning is one of the many modern technologies that can be used to help reveal some of the secrets and stories that are part of these amazing structures. The scanning can provide a baseline documentation of the building’s current state, allowing the planning team to design necessary structural supports, and to also serve as a 3D, “as-built” blue print for documenting current conditions and future preservation efforts.

What is 3D scanning?

Laser scanning is the process of collecting millions of individual measurements using laser light. Think of a range finder. A laser beam leaves the scanner on a specific orientation and the time it takes to reflect off a surface and return to the scanner establishes the distance. This happens thousands of times per second. By moving the equipment to various positions and perspectives, an entire site can be “scanned” in 3D. Once the data is merged, the resulting “point cloud” can be used to create traditional drawings, 3D models, and virtual reconstructions & walkthroughs.

So far, Direct Dimensions has only scanned the exterior on Wolfe Street, and will complete the project with funds provided to The Preservation Society by an African American Heritage Preservation Program Grant from the Maryland Historical Trust. This initial scan effort is also valuable as an archived “3D snapshot”, a record of the state of the structure in the spring of 2013.