SEEKING TO prevent demolition of two historic buildings on Redwood Street to make way for an 11-story Residence Inn by Marriott, representatives of local and national preservation groups are appealing directly to Marriott's chairman to intervene and reconsider plans for the project.
In addition, the nonprofit Abell Foundation has offered to purchase the endangered buildings and turn them over to a group that would renovate them, if the city acquires them by condemnation.
The preservationists' appeals are in addition to a lawsuit they have filed challenging Baltimore's decision to issue a demolition permit for the properties in question, a four-story building at 17 Light St. and a six-story building at 101-109 E. Redwood St.
"Baltimore has more than enough vacant lots and nonhistoric buildings to accommodate new development," Preservation Maryland executive director Tyler Gearhart and Baltimore Heritage President Jamie Hunt wrote in a letter Aug. 1 to Marriott Chairman J.W. Marriott Jr.
"Historic buildings should be preserved, not bulldozed. Marriott knows how to do this. [We] urge you to intervene to stop the loss of an irreplaceable part of Maryland's heritage."
Marriott's past support of preservation is evident "by the numerous historic buildings that the corporation has converted to lodging facilities," wrote Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, in a letter July 31 to Marriott's chairman.
By altering its current proposal for Redwood Street, Moe said, "Marriott could once again set the standard as a corporation that understands the power of authentic places in a city that thrives on tourism. I ask you to explore other options."
A spokesman for Marriott International, Nick Hill, said the company was willing to meet with the local preservationists, but has been unable to set a time. He referred questions about the development plan to Marriott's development partner, Donald J. Urgo & Associates of Bethesda.
Kevin Urgo said the company has been working on the project for two years and is eager to move ahead with its current plan.
In response to a similar appeal to rethink the project, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley notified the preservationists in June that he supports the current plan.
"The Marriott project is moving forward," he wrote. "This development will serve to revitalize an important cross section in downtown Baltimore, as well as encourage more tourism, employment and revenue for the city."
The two buildings threatened by the Marriott project were part of a building boom after the Great Fire of 1904. The structure at 17 Light St., constructed in 1904, was the headquarters of Merchants and Miners Transportation Co., a major force in Baltimore's boom as a center of maritime trade between 1852 and 1948. The structure at 101-109 E. Redwood St. was built in 1916 for Sun Life Insurance Co.
Urgo has a contract to buy both buildings and wants to demolish them to make way for a 125-room Residence Inn by Marriott. Baltimore's housing department issued a demolition permit several months ago, but the preservation groups filed suit against the city to block the demolition.
During a three-hour hearing Monday in Baltimore Circuit Court, attorney John Murphy, representing Preservation Maryland, Baltimore Heritage and others in the lawsuit, argued that the city should not have issued the demolition permits because demolition is contrary to a 1977 urban renewal plan that encourages preservation of historic buildings on Redwood Street.
Murphy said the city has the authority to acquire the buildings by condemnation if the owner or contract purchaser has plans that run counter to the city's urban renewal plan.
But attorneys for Urgo and the city argued that the renewal plan only encourages preservation of historic buildings and does not require it. They said that the Baltimore Development Corp. asked the developers to try to save the buildings but that their architects concluded they could not easily be adapted for hotel use and proposed new construction.
Robert C. Embry Jr., president of the Abell Foundation, said his organization is prepared to buy the two buildings for their appraised value and sell them to someone who will fix them up for continued use. In effect, Abell's funds would reimburse the city for acquiring the properties by condemnation.
Embry, who was Baltimore's housing commissioner when the urban renewal plan protecting Redwood Street was enacted, said Abell is willing to step in and buy the buildings because "we think it is important that they not be torn down. ... It would be a real loss."
Embry said Abell made the same offer to acquire the former USF&G Corp. headquarters at the southwest corner of Calvert and Redwood streets, to prevent it from being demolished for a parking garage. That building is now being studied for conversion to a Hampton Inn.
Judge William Cave is expected to issue his ruling this week.
