The city's planning department staff, which advises the members of the planning commission, has recommended that the theater not be added to the city landmark list, in deference to the owners' wishes.
The planning staff's decision runs counter to action taken last year by the city's preservation commission, whose members voted unanimously to recommend that the Mechanic Theatre be added to the landmark list.
Today's hearing marks the first time that the planning staff has declined to support the preservation commission's recommendations for landmark designation since the preservation panel came under the purview of the planning department two years ago.
Michael Murphy, a local architect and member of Baltimore's preservation commission, said the theater meets the city's criteria for landmark designation and he believes adding it to the landmark list is the best way to protect it from demolition or defacement.
He warned that the planning commission would be setting a troubling precedent if it followed the planning staff's advice and contradicted a vote taken by the preservation commission.
"In this economic climate, things can change overnight," Murphy said. If the latest proposal doesn't move ahead for economic reasons and the building isn't added to the landmark list, he said, the present owners or their successors could ask the city for a demolition permit and the building would not be protected by landmark status.
"This is not the way to do it," he said.
The planning commission meeting will be held on the eighth floor of the Benton municipal building at 417 E. Fayette St.
