Historic Buildings

WHILE BALTIMORE preservationists are already upset about possibly losing historic buildings as part of the city's campaign to redevelop downtown's west side, the Schmoke administration is exploring plans to demolish historic buildings along Charles Street to make way for a parking garage.Baltimore's Planning Commission approved a City Council bill last month that would authorize the city to acquire buildings "in the vicinity of" Charles and Fayette streets to make way for a $10 million, 500-car parking garage.

Hotel construction, historic preservation can be done togetherRecent articles in The Sun have chronicled efforts to build as many as nine new hotels in Baltimore ("Marriott hotel starts going up at harbor," July 21 and "City's financial aid for hotel supported," July 16). Comparisons to similar efforts in Philadelphia are instructive.Although the two cities are each planning projects that will create about 4,000 hotel rooms, in Philadelphia more than 75 percent of them will be in adaptively re-used historic buildings.

AS IF MARYLAND weren't losing enough historic buildings this winter, now it has lost one of the few people who really knew how to save them.Michael Frederick Trostel, who died of cancer this month at age 67, was the most selfless sort of architect.He wasn't known for designing buildings from scratch. He worked primarily to save buildings designed by others.He didn't want the limelight. His hope was that when he completed a restoration, no one would be able to tell he had been there in the first place.

Competing theories of urban redevelopment may be headed for a collision on Howard Street, Baltimore's boulevard of broken schemes.What might be termed the big-bang theory for renewing the city's rotting retail district says developers won't risk $350 million building hundreds of apartments and shops unless they have freedom to be creative and are allowed to demolish scores of buildings, if necessary.Another approach, which might be termed the SoHo theory, holds that such large-scale demolition is doomed to fail because distinctive architecture is the only advantage urban areas hold over the boring but convenient suburbs.

Jean R. Graybeal, a lifelong Harford County resident who was active in historic preservation and civic affairs, died Sunday of a stroke at her Bel Air residence. She was 80.Descended from one of Harford County's oldest and most distinguished families, Mrs. Graybeal was interested in historic buildings and played a hand in preserving many of them.She was a founder of the Liriodendron Foundation, a nonprofit foundation that runs Liriodendron, the 100-acre estate that was once the summer home of Dr. Howard A. Kelly, one of the "Big Four" who founded Johns Hopkins Hospital.

THIS is an exciting time for those of us who believe the conditions are finally right for the revitalization of the west side of downtown Baltimore. But as H. L. Mencken wrote, "For every complex, difficult problem, there is a simple, easy solution, and it is wrong."Revitalizing the west side of downtown is a complex challenge that must include a detailed program for restoring historic buildings -- not just a few silver bullet projects or a plan that is short on specifics.Of the details released so far on the west side plan, it appears that little attention has been paid to historic preservation.

A proposed 12-unit apartment building for senior citizens off Main Street in Ellicott City was rejected last night by the Howard County Historic District Commission, which called the facility's design "inappropriate" for the quaint historic town.Although the controversial public facility had the approval of the county Department of Planning and Zoning, Historic District Commission member Richard Williams said the "serene and beautiful spot" the building would stand on should maintain its rustic, small-town appeal.

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.

Annapolis Mayor Dean L. Johnson has appointed 11 people to the city's new Commission to Study Fire Safety in historic buildings, created after a five-alarm blaze destroyed a 98-year-old building on Main Street in December.Harry Klasmeier, who was Anne Arundel County's fire administrator from 1964 to 1983, is to head the commission, joined by business, engineering and community representatives, including former Annapolis Mayor John T. Chambers.The Dec. 9 fire, which left a gaping hole in the row of buildings near the top of Main Street, alerted city officials to the lack of fire safety devices and alarms in most historic buildings.

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 promotes economic development, preserves historic buildings, encourages Smart Growth and promotes the greening of America. Maryland's historic tax credit program has contributed to the rehabilitation of so many commercial developments in downtown Baltimore and other areas of the state that supporters say it served as a local stimulus package before there was a need for a federal one. This program, which has suffered under legislative tinkering, is...

When a two-alarm fire struck Fells Point's Sugar House in 1993, many people feared that a piece of Baltimore history would be lost forever. The blaze destroyed the roof and much of the top floor of the 1840s-era warehouse, one of the neighborhood's most-treasured landmarks. But today, the three-story building is whole again, rebuilt as part of the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park operated by the Living Classrooms Foundation, a nonprofit that teaches skills to city youth. The maritime park, in the 1400 block of Thames St., is one of 10 restoration projects singled out for Historic Preservation Awards this year by Baltimore Heritage Inc., a citywide preservation advocacy group.

A 30-year agreement that has prohibited development on an 892-acre portion of historic Doughoregan Manor is set to expire tomorrow, paving the way for hundreds of new homes on one of the largest tracts of undeveloped land in Howard County. The property is a remnant of a once vast Colonial estate of more than 10,000 acres. The manor was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971. Doughoregan Manor, in western Ellicott City, was the home of Charles Carroll of Carrolton and is the only home of a signer of the Declaration of Independence still in family hands.

Controversies surrounding the demolition of the Rochambeau Apartments and a block of 1820 rowhouses, as well as the plight of the Senator Theatre, have brought renewed focus on the future of Baltimore's architectural heritage. Preservationists welcome recent calls for the city's Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) to be more proactive in designating buildings as historic landmarks. But landmarking is a political process that requires CHAP, Planning Commission, and City Council approval to protect individual buildings and historic districts.

Cranes ripped through a block of 1820s-era row homes on St. Paul Place in downtown Baltimore yesterday, reducing the historic buildings to brick piles after a months-long debate over whether they should have been preserved. Demolition got under way early yesterday, weeks after preservationists dropped their fight to save the houses - some of the oldest in downtown - and work will continue for another three to four weeks. Mercy Medical Center plans to build a $292 million inpatient facility on the site.

As The Sun has reported, the outlook for the citywide convention business from 2008 through 2010 is soft, and that's why the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association is taking immediate steps to fill some holes in the coming years ("Convention bookings decline," Feb. 10). Convention business is typically booked five to seven years in advance. But there is still time to make an impact with short-term bookings. Our strategies include adding more muscle to the sales team with one or two new sales managers in the Baltimore office and opening a Northeast sales office that will focus on corporate and pharmaceutical groups, which can book meetings in the short term.

William "Mudd" Newnam, a mason who was known and respected in St. Michaels for his historically accurate brick restorations and his gift as a storyteller, died Friday at his farm in McDaniel from injuries suffered in an automobile accident a week earlier. He was 77. Mr. Newnam was born and raised in Neavitt, the son of a waterman. He grew up working with his father and brothers oystering and crabbing, and at harvest season going from farm to farm operating threshing machines. He was 13 when the family moved to St. Michaels, and he attended St. Michaels High School.

After seeing three historic buildings destroyed or seriously damaged in a large blaze on Annapolis' Main Street just before the holidays last year, Joe Rubino decided to install sprinklers in his Main Street properties. He had been in talks with city officials, he said and had consulted engineers. But because it is a long, difficult and expensive process, there still were no sprinklers when a fire broke out early yesterday at 149 Main St., one of Rubino's buildings and home to the Chesapeake Trading Co. "Fire catches everyone's attention," he said, adding that he at last will be installing a sprinkler system as he repairs the fire-damaged structure.

Members of two separate branches of Maryland's historic Carroll family have submitted plans to Howard County to sell the building rights they hold on several chunks of historic Doughoregan Manor to builders in other parts of the county, preserving the land for agriculture. If approved by Howard County officials, the proposed sales would give developers the right to build on 237 acres of land elsewhere in the county, keep two large Doughoregan Manor tracts undeveloped, and bring in over $9 million for the Carroll descendents, based on the county's top price for prime preservation land.

Baltimore is close to losing another important historic building. The Archdiocese of Baltimore is preparing to raze the 1905 Rochambeau apartment building at Charles and Franklin streets to clear the way for a prayer garden. Like many other historic places in Baltimore, the Rochambeau is not designated a city landmark or protected, even though it is part of a national historic district. For all of us who care about preserving Baltimore's history, the lesson from the Rochambeau is clear: We need better protections for our historic buildings.