Nonprofit historic-preservation organization
Baltimore Heritage is an American nonprofit historic-preservation organization headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.
Foundation
Baltimore Heritage, Inc. was founded in 1960, and Baltimore's nonprofit historic preservation advocacy organization. The organization has two staff members, thirty three volunteer board members and a host of volunteers who work to preserve and promote Baltimore's historic buildings and neighborhoods.[1]
Since 1960, the foundation has been helping neighborhood associations, residents and volunteers advocate for the preservation and reuse of historic buildings. From icons such as City Hall, the warehouses at Camden Yards, historic alley houses on Stirling Street and in the Otterbein neighborhood, Baltimore Heritage has helped lead efforts to protect Baltimore's historic places.[2]
Past Projects
Baltimore Heritage has successfully advocated for many historic places that were once threatened by demolition, including:
- Winans Mansion, Mount Vernon. This mansion is one of a few and possibly the only fully intact late nineteenth century urban mansions designed almost exclusively by Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White. The mansion is the epitome of cosmopolitan living in Baltimore, and was commissioned by Baltimore millionaire Ross R. Winans, heir to a fortune made by his father in St. Petersburg, Russia. The 46-room, brick and brownstone French Renaissance revival style mansion was built in 1882- featuring fine oak paneling, parquet, leaded glass, Tiffany designed tile and other fine materials throughout. The mansion remained a dominant architectural symbol of the neighborhood and has been used as a prep school for girls, a funeral parlor, and a doctors' offices. Baltimore Heritage listed the building on the Preservation Watch List in 2000, after it remained unoccupied for many years. A multimillion-dollar historic renovation of the estate took place in 2005, that gained distinction by winning a preservation honor later that year. The building is currently owned by Agora Inc.[3]
- Scottish Rite Temple of the Freemasons. Construction began on this historic structure in 1930, and the building was officially opened in 1932. The building was designed by architect Clyde Friz (Enoch Pratt Free Library, Standard Oil Building) and John Russell Pope (Jefferson Memorial, National Archives, National Gallery of Art, Masonic Temple of the Scottish Rite in Washington D.C.). The temple on Charles Street is both Italian Renaissance and Beaux Arts Classical in style, with a columned portico based on the Pantheon in Rome. The Scottish Rite Masonic Order continues to occupy the building. After considering selling the building for demolition in 2009 (the same year it was added to the city's list of historic landmarks), the Mason's are reconsidering.[4]
- Castalia. Virgil Hillyer, the first headmaster of the Calvert School, built Castalia between 1928 and 1929. It was named after the spring at the foot of Mount Parnassas in Italy that is said to have been inspiration for the muses. The prominent Baltimore architect Francis Hall Fowler was the principal architect of the Italian-inspired house. It was proposed for demolition in 2006 by the Calvert School, who hoped to construct an outdoor amphitheater in its place. The Baltimore Heritage filed a successful nomination for the building to be added to the city's historic landmark list, and the building was saved.[5]
- 400 block of West Baltimore Street. This was the location of the first toll booth on the National Road. The block, across from the iconic Hippodrome Theater, is a mostly intact street wall of historic properties and includes two of the last nine full cast iron fronted buildings still standing in Baltimore. After plans called for the demolition of much of the south side of the block that were abandoned in 2009, the block has seen significant rehabilitation of its historic structures. Baltimore Heritage removed the block from the Historic Preservation Watch list in July 2010 in recognition of the substantial rehabilitation and renovation that has signaled a commitment to retain the historic buildings in this important part of the west side of downtown.[6]
Lost projects
Baltimore City loses historic buildings to active demolition and neglect. The following places are those for which Baltimore Heritage unsuccessfully advocated for preservation.[13]
- The Rochambeau Apartments: a contributing building in the Cathedral Hill National Register Historic District. It was an iconic building along Baltimore's historic Charles Street. The Archdiocese of Baltimore demolished the building in 2006 and plans to erect a prayer garden on the site.[14]
- Monumental Motorcar Company: built in 1915, the showroom known as the Odorite was one of the last surviving buildings relating to the early automobile era alone Mount Royal Avenue. The University of Baltimore razed the building in 2004 over the objections of Baltimore Heritage, the Mount Vernon Belvedere Association, and the Maryland Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. The site now houses the University of Baltimore Student Center.[15]
- 300 St. Paul Place: built during the 1820s, the row of houses on this block were erected in the aftermath of the War of 1812. By 1890, the houses played a central role in Baltimore's African American community as the location of the school for the St. Francis Xavier Church, the first Catholic Church for African Americans in the country. Mercy Hospital demolished the buildings in 2007, with the intentions of constructing a new building on the site.[16]