Historic Buildings

A new tax incentive program for historic buildings has been initiated that will give homebuyers a credit equal to 25 percent of rehabilitation costs.The state mortgage credit certificate option -- called the Heritage Preservation Tax Credit Mortgage Credit Certificate Option -- allows an owner of a qualified historic residential or commercial property to receive a credit equal to 25 percent of the rehabilitation costs on the property.The owner can use the credit to lower the state income tax or transfer the credit to the institution that lent the rehab money.

SYKESVILLE - Main Street in Sykesville has been designated as an accredited National Main Street Program - a designation that means it meets commercial district revitalization performance standards set by the National Trust Main Street Center. Each year, the National Trust and its partners announce a list of accredited Main Street programs that have built revitalization organizations and demonstrate the ability to strengthen their economy and protect historic buildings. The evaluation includes standards such as developing a mission, fostering strong public-private partnerships, securing an operating budget, tracking economic progress and preserving buildings.

The Carroll County commissioners agreed yesterday that historic preservation is important, but Commissioner President Donald I. Dell questioned whether county money should be spent on it during tough economic times."

Maryland's highest court has cleared the way for the city to move forward with its plans for the long-delayed $152 million Superblock project. The Maryland Court of Appeals dismissed Friday a lawsuit by Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos that challenged the project. In a 4-3 decision, the court said Angelos did not have standing to sue, affirming a Baltimore Circuit Court ruling to dismiss the complaint. Long stymied by legal challenges, the project involves construction of a 269-unit apartment building, a 650-space underground parking garage and shops called Lexington Square near Lexington and Howard streets.

Baltimore developer and remodeler Martin P. Azola has joined Ilex Construction and Development Inc. as a vice president.Mr. Azola, 44, a nationally recognized expert in adapting historic buildings for commercial and residential uses, will be responsible for expanding Ilex's activities in those areas.He joined Ilex less than six months after he was forced to file for NTC protection from creditors under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. At the time, he said that he was adversely affected not only by the recession but also by changing federal tax laws that discourage private investment in historic restoration and adaptive reuse.

Some preservationists and homeowners fear that new Howard County tax incentives intended to encourage restoration historic buildings are not enough to discourage developers who want to demolish them.The Howard County Council "took the easy way out," said Scott Billigmeier, secretary of the Braebrooke Homeowner's Association near historic Ellicott City, which wanted the council instead to place a moratorium on the destruction of historic homes.But others say that the tax credit and a related 10-year tax freeze on historic buildings will help preservation efforts.

Prospects may be dim for an official historic zone in Westminster, but the city's Historic District Commission hopes to highlight its goals with a free renovators' workshop next month.Experts from around the state will be available to talk about hands-on work on such artifacts as stained glass, brick walls, slate roofs, paint and chimneys, as well as design, landscaping, planning additions and tax incentives.The workshop, a first for the commission, will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Feb. 26 at the Westminster fire hall, 66 E. Main St. The snow date is March 5."

Afraid that a new developer will try to buy the American Can Co. property on Boston Street and build a project the Canton community doesn't want, area residents have come up with their own plans for the site.Members of the Waterfront Coalition, a neighborhood group that monitors development in East Baltimore, unveiled plans last night that call for the former canning-factory property to be converted to a mixed-use project containing low-cost housing for the elderly, a supermarket, neighborhood-oriented shops and a public plaza.

In a debate that could determine how historic buildings are redeveloped across Baltimore County, Oella residents argued yesterday the merits of two bills that would allow a 19th-century mill to be converted into luxury apartments. More than a dozen residents appeared at a County Council work session to speak in favor of the bills, which would exempt historic buildings from some open space and parking requirements. Without the bills and the redevelopment of Oella Mill, they said, the historic centerpiece of their community would eventually crumble.

The recent blaze that destroyed a 98-year-old building in Annapolis has kindled fears about the vulnerability of the city's treasure of historic buildings.Although fires have burned parts of historic Boston, Baltimore and Ellicott City over the past two centuries, few strong laws or fire prevention systems have been put into place to protect the oldest urban structures in what were the original 13 Colonies.Nationwide, fire laws have become more stringent, but most are designed to save lives, not structures.

It's a start. Baltimore City's decision to consider selling or otherwise turning over 15 city-owned historic landmarks to new ownership or management is a step in the right direction. But is it well thought out and does it go far enough? For decades the city's enormous collection of historic properties has languished. It has been clear for some time that neither municipal resources nor will are sufficient to provide the stewardship these properties require and deserve. The situation has worsened with every passing year, so I applaudMayor Rawlings-Blake's recent action.

For the better part of two centuries, the stately circa-1804 Dielman Inn has been a dominant features of New Windsor's quiet Main Street and a centerpiece of the town's architectural and cultural heritage. But for nearly a decade, this cornerstone of New Windsor's historic district has stood vacant and dilapidated, ravaged by roof leaks, termites, occasional vandalism and general neglect. Those contrasting factors — the building's overriding historic importance and its precarious condition — have earned the Dielman Inn inclusion on Preservation Maryland's 2010 Endangered Maryland list.

When is hard candy more than just something to eat? Perhaps when you make it from 15 pounds of raw materials, stir in blue and green food coloring, add miniature "waves" as the mass hardens, and let the giant aquatic-looking entity surround the tiny lighthouse you've already crafted from other edible objects. "The Thomas Point Lighthouse," the scenic-but-sugary creation of Don and Marlena Dillenbeck of Hanover, is a contender this year in a gingerbread house competition sponsored by the Historic Annapolis Foundation, a contest in which creativity, technical skill and awareness of local history are as important as ingredients to a recipe.

A historic former school in East Baltimore that has been vacant for years could be transformed into college classrooms or offices under proposals heard by city officials Wednesday. Two groups have submitted plans to the Baltimore Development Corp. to buy and renovate the four-story Gompers Building at 1701 E. North Ave. The 1905 structure housed Eastern High School until 1950. Afterward it served as a vocational school and then as affordable apartments through a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program.

A day after the largest East Coast earthquake in more than 60 years, Marylanders continued to deal with the fallout, as officials assessed the effects on buildings and infrastructure, transit riders saw delays and some federal workers and public school students got an extra day off. Although the tremor lasted for just a few moments Tuesday afternoon, damage prompted a Fells Point church to relocate services. State inspectors were busy assessing roads and bridges as the region braced for the predicted weekend effects of Hurricane Irene.

Even as they discovered new scars from Tuesday's earthquake - a collapsed roof in Annapolis, broken glass at Baltimore's Port Discovery , a crumbled chimney in Catonsville - officials were most concerned about the unseen damage as they prepared to reopen Maryland buildings to the public Wednesday. Teams of inspectors were deployed throughout the state to assess the structural safety of everything from the airport to the sports stadiums, authorities said. Helicopter pilots conducted aerial surveys, structural engineers searched for fresh foundation cracks and transportation examiners pored over each county's weaker bridges.

Some preservationists and homeowners fear that new Howard County tax incentives intended to encourage restoration historic buildings are not enough to discourage developers who want to demolish them.The Howard County Council "took the easy way out," said Scott Billigmeier, secretary of the Braebrooke Homeowner's Association near historic Ellicott City, which wanted the council instead to place a moratorium on the destruction of historic homes.But others say that the tax credit and a related 10-year tax freeze on historic buildings will help preservation efforts.

Walls covered in cork caught fire Thursday in a vacant brewery complex in Southeast Baltimore's Brewers Hill, a fire official said. Firefighters were called to the historic building about 2 p.m., said Capt. Roman Clark, a spokesman for the Baltimore City Fire Department. The fire was primarily confined to the third and fourth floors, he said, and was still being fought Thursday evening. Heavy fire, smoke and the collapse of interior walls created unsafe conditions and firefighters were ordered for a time from the building, part of the old Gunther Brewery complex in the 1200 block of S. Conkling St., Clark said.

City officials have granted a second six-month extension to the developers behind West Baltimore's $150 million Superblock project. City officials signed a letter last week extending the deadline on a land disposition agreement with the developers Lexington Square Partners to Dec. 31, and their actions were noted by the city's spending board Wednesday. Otherwise, the developers would have lost their exclusive rights to negotiate on the city-owned property. In the letter, the developers touted key decisions from the city's Commission on Historic and Architectural Preservation and the Urban Design and Review Panel.