Tag: Downtown

Stewardship of Baltimore City-owned historic landmarks remains a critical issue

"This Place Matters" at the McKim Center
“This Place Matters” at the McKim Center

Last week, the Baltimore Business Journal published a report prepared for Baltimore City by a real estate consulting firm recommending various options for seventeen historic buildings owned by Baltimore City. When the City first commissioned this report last spring, it prompted widespread concern over the future of much-loved landmarks like the Shot Tower, Peale Museum, and Cylburn Mansion. At the time, we called for an open process that would ensure a seat at the table for the many citizens and volunteers who for decades have protected and celebrated these important landmarks. Now that the consultant’s report is final and the City has begun considering options for the seventeen buildings on the list, we believe the need for an inclusive deliberation is paramount to ensure the sites under consideration can be preserved and remain assets for Baltimore.

Carroll Mansion, 1936. Image courtesy Library of Congress, HABS.
Carroll Mansion, 1936. Image courtesy Library of Congress, HABS.

We commend Baltimore City for focusing on the seventeen historic properties subject to the report, some of which are in desperate need of repair. Long term leases, money-generating tenants, and perhaps even outright sale should be considered for some of the sites. Many others on the list, however, have friends groups that have cared for them for years (decades in some instances), that have raised money for their maintenance and restoration, and that are current and active in their work. Clifton Mansion, the Shot Tower, Carroll Mansion, and the Crimea are prime examples in this category. Still others, including the Peale Museum, Roland Park Water Tower, and President Street Station, have groups actively working with the City to gain control and begin restoration. The people who have devoted themselves to the buildings on the list should be part of the decision-making process. The consultant’s report appears to leave out the time, money, and dedication that Baltimoreans have already put into these landmarks and to undervalue their potential for the future stewardship of these historic places.

We will continue to advocate for an open process as the City moves forward in making decisions over the fates of these seventeen buildings. The seventeen buildings on the table deserve to be occupied and restored so that they can remain assets for Baltimore. The seventeen properties addresses by this report include:

Explore Baltimore Heritage is public history in action thanks to BreakingGround and UMBC graduate students

Thanks to a grant from UMBC’s BreakingGround initiative this past fall, Baltimore Heritage enjoyed a unique opportunity to work closely with UMBC Professor Dr. Denise Meringolo and nine UMBC students in a graduate-level public history course. The students worked with us to develop short video documentaries on the stories of Baltimore’s historic landmarks for our new website and smartphone application, Explore Baltimore Heritage. The student videos — produced with support from the UMBC New Media Studio — share images and vignettes from the history of grave-robbing at Davidge Hall, the ignominious demise of Edgar Allen Poe and his burial at the Westminster Burying Ground, and the complicated past of urban renewal at Baltimore’s First Mariner Arena.

When we first started working with Dr. Meringolo and her public history students in spring semester of 2012, we developed a project that allowed students to build on on our existing research and tell new stories about historic places like the Baltimore Bargain House or Hutzler’s Department Store with writing and archival photographs. When Dr. Meringolo offered us the opportunity to continue working with her students into the fall, we settled on an ambitious goal: use the wealth of historic photos from local archives to tell stories with short videos. Fortunately, several of the students from the spring semester collaboration decided to continue with the second course and brought valuable expertise on the history of downtown Baltimore to this new challenge.

It has been exciting observe how the students have gained a new perspective on the role of public history in the often political and messy debates around economic development and preservation in an urban downtown. For Baltimore Heritage, the partnership has greatly extended the capacity of our small two-person non-profit and enabled us to expand the featured buildings on Downtown’s West Side.

Please enjoy these great videos on YouTube, check out Explore Baltimore Heritage online, or download the iPhone or Android application today!

This post originally appeared on the BreakingGround blog.

Behind the Scenes tour of the G. Krug & Son Ironworks next week

Join us next Wednesday for a tour of G. Krug & Son Ironworks and new museum. G. Krug is the nation’s oldest operating ironworks, and after 200 years has added an ironworks museum to its ongoing iron working business. G. Krug’s original work (and newer restoration work) can be found on local landmarks like the Otterbein Church, Baltimore Basilica, Washington Monument, and the Baltimore Zoo. In 2012, the fifth generation Krug family that now owns and operates the business added a museum to highlight the rich history of the family business and a collection that includes archival ironworks blueprints and rare pieces of century-old ironwork. Please join us for a tour of this 200 year old ironworking facility and new museum space on Saratoga Street.

G. Krug & Son Ironworks and Museum
Wednesday, February 20, 2013, 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
415 West Saratoga Street, Baltimore, MD 21201
RSVP today! $15 per person for Baltimore Heritage members / $25 for non-members

On-street parking available nearby or find off-street parking at the surface lot at 112 N. Eutaw Street or the garage at 208 N. Paca Street. The shop is also a short walk from the Lexington Market Metro Station or Lexington Market Light Rail stop.

4942094169_5c69155b35_bMaryland first began to flourish as an ironworking center in the 1720s when the Principio Furnace opened in Cecil County and another furnace opened along the Gwynn’s Falls in Baltimore County. With the availability of iron and skilled labor to work it, G. Krug & Son was started in 1810 by Augustas Schwatka. In 1830, Andrew Merker bought the company and listed it as a “bell hanger and locksmith” firm. Gustav Krug, the Krug family ironworking progenitor, came to Baltimore in 1848 and began working for Merker. In 1871, Krug became the sole proprietor of the business and eventually changed its name to the current G. Krug & Son. The firm is the oldest continuously operating ironworks in the country, and it still fabricates artistic ironwork in the same building where it was founded in 1810. Krug staff, including Peter Krug, a fifth generation Krug ironworker, will lead our tour of this 200 year old facility and introduce us to their new Baltimore museum!

Open House at the G. Krug & Son Ironworks and Museum this Saturday

G. Krug & Son is an institution on Downtown’s West Side with over 200 years of history in forging and restoring ironwork across the City of Baltimore. We’re excited to share the news that the shop has now opened a museum to share their rich history launching with a free open house this Saturday!

This is a business that literally built Baltimore into the city it is today and the pieces of the jobs worked on in the shop’s 202-year history can still be found inside. Artfully done drawings, photographs, and job files containing the names of some of the city’s most influential people and institutions are all featured in the new museum. Peter Krug started the museum to showcase a history of Baltimore and a family owned company that has been there for much of that time and share their unique perspective on the historic port city that supported a fledgling country. G. Krug & Son employees will lead tours from 11:00am to 2:00pm and offer demonstrations of the blacksmithing process.

Open House at G. Krug & Son Ironworks and Museum

G. Krug & Son – 415 W. Saratoga Street
Saturday, November 10, 2012, 11:00am to 2:00pm
Parking – On-street or off-street at surface lot at 112 N. Eutaw Street or garage at 208 N. Paca Street. Transit – The shop is a short walk from the Lexington Market Metro Station or Lexington Market Light Rails stop.

Photo walk & tour of Jewish Landmarks on the West Side this Saturday!

Baltimore residents of all backgrounds remember the bustling shops of Howard and Lexington Streets but a handful of Jewish-owned businesses – Hutzler’s, Hecht’s, and Read’s Drug Store just to name a few – stand out in stories and memories from the history of downtown’s west side. Bring your camera and join Baltimore Heritage for a free photo walk and tour exploring the history of Jewish entrepreneurs and workers – making clothes, selling furniture, and more – who made Howard and Lexington a place to remember.

West Side Photo Walk & Tour

October 27, 2012, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
RSVP today or sign up on Facebook! Free thanks to Free Fall Baltimore.
Meet at the east entrance to Lexington Market – Eutaw and Lexington Streets

This tour is presented in partnership with the Jewish Museum of Maryland for the Jewish Landmarks Photo Competition. Special thanks to The Baltimore Sun for featuring our tour on the Darkroom blog.

We deeply appreciate the support of our donors who make Free Fall Baltimore possible.  Special thanks goes to Susquehanna Bank, The Abell Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support provided by American Trading and Production Corporation, William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, and the Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation.