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.
Last week, the Baltimore Sun and others reported that Baltimore City is hiring an Annapolis-based appraisal firm to determine the “market value” of fifteen city-owned historic properties. Baltimore Heritage has asked the Mayor and the director of the Department of Public Works to make this process open and participatory—ensuring that there is a seat at the table for the many citizens and volunteers who for decades have protected and celebrated these important landmarks.
Upton Mansion in 1936, one of fifteen historic landmarks included in city-owned landmark review
Our most important goal must be to make sure the buildings are occupied, well cared for and remain intact as public assets for Baltimore. These fifteen properties are irreplaceable reminders of our city’s long history from the War of 1812 through the development and civic life of Baltimore up through the present. In addition, the ownership for each building should be evaluated based on what is best for its repair and maintenance. There are many different forms of ownership that these properties could have, ranging from public ownership and public use, leasing to nonprofit organizations, or even outright private ownership and private use. These options, and others, should be considered with the long-term care of the building as the guiding principle.
All of the properties should be protected with historic designation to make sure they are preserved, regardless of who owns them. Twelve of the fifteen properties are already on the city’s historic landmark list, requiring the approval of CHAP (the city’s preservation commission) for any exterior changes. Additional protections could include placing historic easements on the properties or including specific preservation requirements in leases or use agreements.
Finally, although the current proposal has targeted fifteen buildings, the city owns dozens more iconic historic structures — The Bromo Seltzer Tower, Patterson Park Observatory, Flag House, H.L. Mencken House, Washington Monument, and Babe Ruth House, are all city-owned historic properties. If nothing else, the attention and concern over this study has put city-owned landmarks in the spotlight. We should seize the opportunity to ensure a future for all of these historic places by creating an inventory of city-owned structures and a rehabilitation and maintenance plan for each.
“This Place Matters” at the McKim Center
For nearly all of these buildings, from the Shot Tower to President Street Station, local residents and preservation organizations have spent years, even decades, working to celebrate their unique stories and preserve them for our city’s future. These leaders understand the importance of this history more than anyone else. They and the city’s preservation commission must be at the center of any consideration for their future.
Baltimore City-Owned landmarks identified for possible lease or sale
We are very pleased to share the news that the Baltimore Hebrew Orphan Asylum has received over $2.5 million in support from the Maryland Sustainable Communities Tax Credit program. We are honored to have helped draft the tax credit application and to be one of the many partners working towards the building’s restoration. The state’s generous funding for the project is a major step forward in our efforts to see this building preserved and reused as an anchor for a revitalized Greater Rosemont community. We particularly appreciate the leadership of Coppin State University for their support of the tax credit application prepared by the Coppin Heights Community Development Corporation with assistance from Baltimore Heritage and Kann Partners. Working together we’ve established a vision for the future of this building that matches the key goals of the Sustainable Communities Tax Credit program: to promote revitalization, restore historic places, and advance Smart Growth and sustainability while creating jobs in communities across the state of Maryland.
Although the Hebrew Orphan Asylum is just one of of many projects receiving the tax credit across the State, this project received the largest allocation from the nearly $7 million in tax credits offered to projects across the state, including the Senator Theatre and Mount Vernon Mill No. 1 here in Baltimore. These funds will leverage additional public and private support as we work to help the Coppin Heights CDC raise the full amount required for a complete stabilization and rehabilitation of the building. With the building still in seriously distressed condition, these next steps are an urgent priority for Baltimore Heritage and the Friends of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum.
Yesterday afternoon, Senator Ben Cardin announced the introduction of new legislation in Congress to expand the reach of the federal historic rehabilitation tax credit program. This would be great news for us in Baltimore, and in fact Senator Cardin chose Baltimore’s own Clifton Mansion, which the nonprofit Civic Works is restoring with the help of the current federal program, as the location to make his announcement.
Senator Cardin’s bill, the Creating American Prosperity through Preservation (CAPP) Act, helps smaller projects by increasing the tax credit on projects of $5 million or less and promote energy-efficiency. By supporting historic preservation across the nation, this bill also has tremendous potential to create jobs as Senator Cardin said yesterday:
“I am extremely proud of this bill because it will help ensure that historic properties are restored and made useful once again, while creating jobs that will stimulate greater economic activity. The Historic Tax Credit has created some 2 million jobs nationwide since 1978 and by expanding the program to include energy-efficient improvements and additional restoration projects, we can create thousands of new jobs in renovating historic properties.”
In Baltimore, the federal credit has been instrumental in numerous historic rehab projects including the American Can Company, Tide Point, the Hippodrome Theater, Clipper Mill, and Montgomery Park, just to name a few. The National Trust for Historic Preservation joined Senator Cardin in announcing that the CAPP Act is their top legislative priority for 2012. Republican Senator Olympia Snowe from Maine is a co-sponsor of Senator Cardin’s bill and with bi-partisan support in the Senate we hope that Senator Cardin is successful and that the bill will become law.
