Maryland Planning Blog

MARCH 3

Baltimore – The city  celebrated an important achievement on the evening of March 3, by lighting up the marquee of the Centre Theatre, the newest rehabilitated building in Baltimore’s Station North Arts and Entertainment District.

The blue neon of the letters on the distinctive facade instantly illuminated an otherwise dark corridor, acting as a symbolic beacon of the kind of development momentum currently re-energizing the district.

The $18 million project will be “a center for arts and innovation in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District,” according to developer Jubilee Baltimore’s website. The project converts a 67,000 square foot building that has been vacant for more than 20 years into restaurant space, film centers for Johns Hopkins University and Maryland Institute College of Art programs, the Baltimore Jewelry Center, and the Center for Neighborhoods, a nonprofit hub of community development-focused nonprofits including Central Baltimore Partnership, Neighborhood Housing Services of Baltimore and…

By Peter Morrill, Curator Program Manager, Maryland Department of Natural Resources

by Heather Barrett, Administrator of Research & Survey

Forgeman’s House at Catoctin

On October 9^th, the Trust held its first Orlando Ridout V field survey day in honor of our friend, mentor, and cherished colleague.   It was a crisp fall day in the village of Catoctin in Frederick County, a kind of day Orlando would have enjoyed.   A large group of over 30 – past and present MHT staff members and our local guides – visited various historic buildings and sites throughout the district, including:  the 1774 Catoctin Furnace; several stone worker’s cottages; a slave cemetery undergoing archeological investigation; the ruins of the late eighteenth century Iron Master’s House; and, the grand ca. 1805 house of Baker Johnson, one of the furnace’s original owners.  Throughout the day, Elizabeth Comer, our tour guide and organizer, provided insight into the area’s rich history.