Lord Have Mercy, or Lord, Take Mercy, Please!

2006-12-02T09:29:00.000-05:00

Nothing like a sleezy preservation battle to kick off the holidays. Read up on the latest chicanery involving one member of Baltimore City Council and a downtown hospital in (Christ, I can't believe I'm citing them...) the Sun. The Examiner also ran a story in which it reports that preservationists know nothing about the history of the 300 block of St. Paul. Yeah, like the Examiner knows anything about journalism.

Hey, Examiner, if you're out there, take a look at one of our posts from MONTHS ago.

Old Stereoview

2006-02-18T19:48:00.000-05:00

The Keystone-Mast collection at the University of California-Riverside's Museum of Photography includes this great 1928 stereoview of Preston Gardens and the 300 block of Saint Paul taken from the Washington Monument. Let Brad know if you would like to add anything to the Save Saint Paul website.

For Your Files

2006-01-28T07:45:00.000-05:00

Read the Baltimore Sun article from December 21, 2005 announcing Mercy Medical Center's plans for this site.

Also, Mercy Medical Center will be presenting its expansion plans to the Maryland Health Care Commission some time this spring. MHCC posts its agendas and minutes on the web, but it appears as though it posts them AFTER the meetings. The next meeting of the Commission is scheduled for February 14 at 1:00pm in conference Room 100 at 4160 Patterson Avenue in Baltimore. Be sure to verify meeting date, time, location, and agenda items with the MHCC directly via email or at 410.764.3460.

Vintage Photo!

2006-01-21T09:55:00.000-05:00

This great photograph taken on April 19th, 1917 shows the 300 block of St. Paul back when it was called Courtland Street. You'll notice that Preston Gardens is under construction: A debris pile has formed in the lower lefthand corner of the frame. Photo courtesy of the Enoch Pratt Free Library.

Learn more about efforts to preserve this incredible block at Bottom Line: Save Buildings Now.

Bottom Line: Save Buildings Now

2006-01-19T08:54:00.000-05:00

The 300 block of St. Paul Place in downtown Baltimore (to include two buildings on East Pleasant Street, and one on East Mulberry Street not shown in photo) is a fine group of eight red brick, circa 1820s townhouses, in the Federal style with a few later alterations. It is in an excellent state of preservation, and is the last surviving such group in the area, the Preston Gardens project of the 1920s, to the immediate west, having removed many similar buildings.

Some years ago, Mercy Medical Center, which owns all but one of the houses, proposed demolition. But Julian Lapides, whose law office was there, saw that they were preserved, and Mercy converted them into offices. [Lapides, a former State Senator, is now President of Baltimore Heritage, the citywide, nonprofit preservation organization.] And in 2001, the then President of Baltimore Heritage consistently saw that they were specified as Notable Properties ("preservation strongly encouraged," and a process for that established) in the City's new Central Business District Urban Renewal Ordinance.

However, Mercy is now planning demolition again, in order to build an 18-story patient tower. [Baltimore Sun, December 21, 2005, and as confirmed by Tyler Gearhart, Executive Director of Preservation Maryland, and Johns Hopkins, Executive Director of Baltimore Heritage.] And Mercy has told the Maryland Historical Trust (as reported by Andrew Lewis of the Trust) that no Federal or State money will be used, thereby eliminating review under Section 106 (Federal) and 14b (State).

The block is also not in a City Historic District under the jurisdiction of the Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation, nor is it in a National Register District. And the above Ordinance provides more process than protection.

There is a vacant lot on the northeast corner of North Calvert and East Saratoga Streets, adjacent to Mercy's existing complex, and a hollow space in their complex on the North Calvert Street side. However, neither seems to be a viable alternative site for the new building.

Since Mercy also plans to demolish their parking garage on North Calvert Street, behind the 300 block of St. Paul Place, for the project, could not the patient tower be built taller, resulting in the same amount of space, and the preservation of the townhouses?

In any event, even if doing so means a major change in Mercy's plans, this block must be preserved. Not only is it important in itself, especially as a 180-year survivor, but also (a) its preservation battle has already been fought and won, (b) that victory has even been codified in a City Ordinance, (c) aside from a few isolated landmarks, it is the last thing that provides historical context to its section of downtown, and (d) even Mercy Medical Center itself has long and honorably acceded to its preservation.

And this particular block must be completely preserved, not subjected to any "facadectomy," or demolished with "mitigation" (which latter term should always be put in quotes).

On a personal note, I have been working as a volunteer in Baltimore preservation for more than 30 years, and have seen more losses than wins, especially in the downtown area. Younger people, in looking at what has been saved there, such as on the West Side, may be sanguine, but with all due respect, they lack the perspective of what has been lost. The Charles Center and Inner Harbor projects of the 1960s and 1970s, worthy as they were in reviving the city, however involved 90% demolition, to include that of stately stone bank buildings and at least 15 iron fronts (some of which were even replaced by empty spaces). And even the old financial district, without any official project, has seen 50% demolition since 1960.

When I worked downtown in the late 1970s, I rode the bus past the 300 block of St. Paul Place every morning, and every morning I was thankful that it had been preserved, amid so much that had not been, even in recent times. And while I had not been specifically involved in this, I felt that my thousands of unpaid hours devoted to Baltimore preservation, even though there had been more losses than wins, were worthwhile.

My point? For anyone who cares about tangible Baltimore history, we are not talking about just saving a nice block here; we are talking about not letting one last prize slip away. And for myself, quite frankly, will it turn out that I have been wasting a large part of my life, especially when landmarks once fought for and made safe, suddenly are not safe, after all (and I can cite similar current cases all over the city, not to mention some recent demolitions)?

But I trust that those who can and should far more than I, will marshal and focus their superior resources to save what so sorely needs to be saved. And I trust that by doing so, they will demonstrate that there really are no such things as "organizational matters and other activities," "a good lesson for the next time," or of course, "mitigation," when as in such major, public cases, push comes to shove. The bottom line is saving buildings, now.

Save Saint Paul

2006-01-16T21:03:00.000-05:00

This just in... the row of townhouses on the 300 block of St. Paul Street in Baltimore are in danger of demolition. I'm assembling some information now, but here are some images in the meantime...

Save Saint Paul

Lord Have Mercy, or Lord, Take Mercy, Please!

Old Stereoview

More on MHCC Postings

For Your Files

Vintage Photo!

Bottom Line: Save Buildings Now

Save Saint Paul