Baltimore Immigration Museum completes work on preservation mini-grant project

Last October, Baltimore Heritage held our first preservation mini-grant “Pitch Party.” We put out a call for good ideas to help preserve Baltimore’s historic places and revitalize our historic neighborhoods and then threw a party to select nominations to receive small grants. Two projects received grants of $500 and another two received grants of $250.

One of our $500 grant award winners was the Baltimore Immigration Museum, located at the Immigrant House in the Locust Point neighborhood. The museum proposed repointing and repairing masonry above the main entry door to stop a leak that was slowly rotting away the woodwork on the door. This job was important in the short term to stop the leak and an important part of the museum’s long-term goal of restoring the building.

The Museum completed the work in early January and its directors are happy to report that the repairs worked: with the masonry shored up, the leak has stopped.

Special thanks to long-time member Ms. Brigid Goody for making the preservation mini-grant program possible, as well as everybody who participated in our first pitch party last fall. In addition to the Baltimore Immigration Museum, three other projects received mini-grant funding.

  • The Herring Run Archaeology Project received $500 to purchase supplies for a spring archaeology project.
  • Taylor’s Chapel in Mount Pleasant Park received $250 as part of a fundraising campaign to stabilize frescoes in this 1850s church that likely were painted by Constantino Brumidi, the fresco artist in the U.S. Capitol building.
  • Lastly, the Market Center Merchant’s Association received $250 to bring Baltimore City public school kids who participate in the Maryland History Day competition to the Market Center Area for a tour of Civil Rights heritage sites.

Stay tuned as we provide updates on these other mini-grant awardees!

Calling all nominations for our 2017 Preservation Awards!

Baltimore Heritage just opened nominations for our 2017 Preservation Awards! This is our fifty-seventh year of celebrating the people behind our city’s great preservation projects. Can you help us find the past year’s best building rehab projects? The most creative examples of building reuse? An inspiring educational program? If you can, then please submit a nomination today.

Every year, we strive to recognize the architects, contractors, and craftspeople working on bricks-and-mortar preservation projects along with dedicated owners who preserve everything from former factories to single family homes. We honor people who write books and blogs, people who research and teach local history, and people advocate for community revitalization. Did you tackle a big rehab project this year? We even have a “sweat equity” award to recognize homeowners and small business owners who do the hard work of fixing up old buildings back all on their own.

Please take a look at our award categories and guidelines or go ahead and send in a nomination for a project award or achievement award today. We try to keep the process quick and easy but, if you run into trouble, please give me a call at 410-332-9992 or send me an email at hopkins@baltimoreheritage.org.

We are only accepting nominations up until Tuesday, February 28, 2017 so send in your nomination soon and spread the word! Thank you for helping us recognize Baltimore’s heritage stewards. Stay tuned for details on our annual awards celebration this spring.

Our Mount Vernon “Love Stories” tours are back!

Valentine’s Day would not be the same in Baltimore without our annual tour of jilted suitors, star-crossed lovers, and European royalty in historic Mount Vernon. Make a date and join tour guide and Baltimore historian Jamie Hunt on Sunday, February 12 for a wonderful walk through Mount Vernon. We’re running two identical tours, the first at 11:00 am and the second at 1:00 pm.

Plus, as we inch closer to those warmer days of spring, we are putting the final touches on our 2017 Monumental City and Baltimore by Foot tours. Watch out for details coming soon!

Exterior view of Hampton Mansion

Discover the story of America at Hampton Mansion

We hope you can join us on January 26 at Hampton Mansion. In 1948, the federal government designated this eighteenth century manor a National Historic Site and, in 2017, the building remains one of the highest regarded examples of Georgian architecture in the country. We are thrilled that Ms. Gregory Weidman, the mansion’s head curator, is leading our tour.

Are you interested in our Lexington Market and catacombs tours but frustrated that you have been stuck on a waitlist? Our tour coordinator Marsha Wise is working with the market management to schedule monthly Saturday morning tours into the spring. Look out for an announcement when registration opens!

If you’re curious about what’s going on with archaeology in Baltimore, please join the Archaeology Society of Maryland for a presentation on the Herring Run Archaeology project on January 20.

Finally, we could not be more pleased to share the news that one of our longest running preservation priorities, Baltimore’s Hebrew Orphan Asylum, took a big step towards a better future. The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development recently awarded the Coppin Heights Community Development Corporation a grant to purchase the building from the University of Maryland University System. We plan to keep you updated as we continue to work to restore this fantastic building as an asset to the Greater Rosemont community.

Architects needed to assess the condition of a historic library building in Charles Village

The Neighborhood Design Center and Baltimore Heritage are searching for an experienced architect, engineer, or contractor who can help assess the condition of one of the original six branches of the Enoch Pratt Free Library—a building that now houses the nonprofit Village Learning Place. If you join our team, we need your help in preparing a condition assessment of this St. Paul Street landmark that the Village Learning Place staff and board members can use to prioritize their rehabilitation and preservation projects.

The Village Learning Place is an independent library that houses educational programs, enrichment opportunities, and informational resources for residents in Charles Village and throughout Baltimore City. Over 7,000 Baltimore City residents hold VLP library cards and, at this small brick building, they can find and borrow any of nearly 20,000 circulating books including an excellent collection of children’s literature.

How do you sign up to volunteer?

NDC welcomes volunteers from a range of backgrounds and experiences but this opportunity is best suited to an architect or engineer with previous experience making visual assessments of existing buildings and recommending possible treatments.

  • If you are already registered as a volunteer with NDC, log in to your account then apply for “Village Learning Place Assessment – Senior Designer” on NDC’s list of volunteer opportunities.
  • If you have never volunteered with NDC before, please take two minutes to complete a volunteer application and select “Senior Designer [BaltimoreVillage Learning Place Assessment]” under “Project Sign-Up”.

Please sign up ASAP! Anyone interested in this opportunity can expect to hear back from the Neighborhood Design Center by late January. For questions, please contact Laura Wheaton at lwheaton@ndc-md.org or Eli Pousson at pousson@baltimoreheritage.org.

Courtesy Village Learning Place.