Case Studies

A collage of three black-and-white photographs of different buildings, including a large brick building, a Victorian-style house with a turret, and a two-story house with a chimney.

East Baltimore Development Incorporated (EBDI), Baltimore, MD

Overview:

History Matters worked with the East Baltimore Development Incorporated (EBDI) and Forest City-New East Baltimore Partnership (Forest City) as they worked to redevelop 88 acres in the neighborhoods that surround the Johns Hopkins University Hospital campus in Baltimore, Maryland.

Map highlighting the locations of Saint Wenceslaus Catholic Church, Saint Wenceslaus School, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and the former 800 Block of North Collington Avenue in Baltimore Maryland.

Location map, City of Baltimore.

Challenge:

Between 2009 and 2011, EBDI and Forest agreed to undertake architectural survey and historical research about selected areas within the redevelopment area. They also agreed to prepare Historic American Building Survey (HABS) documentation for the “painted screens” at 800 N. Collington block in East Baltimore, and create a fact-based interpretive marker about the famous East Baltimore alley houses for the new East Baltimore Community School. While the agreements were specific about what was required of EBDI and Forest City, how to fulfill the requirements was not explicit. They turned to History Matters.

Solutions:

East Baltimore Redevelopment Area Baltimore, MD

In collaboration with RKtects Studio, and conferring with city, state, and federal officials, History Matters provided historic preservation consulting to Forest City Enterprises and EBDI as they developed a master plan for the area’s redevelopment.

Resource Documentation and Historic Preservation Consulting (2011-2012)

History Matters conducted an architectural reconnaissance survey for 42 historic resources in the East Monument Historic District of Baltimore, which was developed in the mid-to-late 19th century. Mainly residential with some commercial buildings and a few industrial buildings, the neighborhoods north of Johns Hopkins University Hospital remain essentially intact from the time of their original construction.

Interpretive Panel for the East Baltimore Community School (2013)

History Matters researched and wrote the text, located illustrations, and designed the interpretive panel that stands in the courtyard of the new East Baltimore Community School. The interpretive panel explores the architecture of East Baltimore alley houses and the residents of Duncan Alley a neighborhood of 50 row houses that once lined the 20-foot-wide alley named Duncan Street that now is represented as a corridor in the new school.

Maryland Inventory of Historic Property Forms (2013 - 2015)

History Matters conducted research in local repositories, surveyed buildings, and wrote Maryland Historical Trust inventory of historic properties forms for six individual historic resources and one historic district in East Baltimore. These included St. Wenceslaus Church and associated buildings, an additional church, a former Bohemia gymnastic hall, and commercial and industrial buildings

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