Southwest Partnership
Historic Preservation Committee
November 20 2017
Meeting Minutes
Present
Scott Kashnow
Betsey Waters
Kim Sheridan
Nicole King
Michael Mellett
Will Brockman
Elizabeth Weber
Committee Updates
The Committee will elect a chair at the January meeting
The December meeting will be canceled.
Malachi Mills Project
The preservation and the restoration of the Malachi Mills House will require a lot of investment from the committee and from the community.
The committee reviewed photographs of the house and discussed its current condition as well as the work that will need to be done to preserve it. The back of the house is in especially poor condition, being generally open to the elements. Betsey recalled that the roof is relatively new and may be in good shape, and that the front siding was replaced, although it needs to be replaced again. The house needs framing, and the committee needs to figure out what the original siding was to get an accurate assessment of the work that needs to be done.
Once the tax sale certificate is in hand, which should be shortly, the process of acquiring the property will take about 90 days and should be relatively straightforward.
The Committee will need to keep an eye on the house, and report issues to the city as they appear through 311. Scott, Will, and Betsey will all be able to do this easily.
The Committee discussed various ways that the group supporting and working on the house could be organized.
A good place to start on talking with contractors is with the developers already working on the 1500 block of W Baltimore St– SID and Michael Rock development. Elizabeth will connect Scott with them.
Mills Family Update
Kim provided an update on the Mills family from her research–there are records of Malachi working with his neighbors to petition the city for improvements to Gilmor in 1828 as well as a history of petitioning for other improvements to the neighborhoods. The Committee discussed various ways of sharing the story to attract interest in the house.
Funding Opportunities
The Committee discussed funding opportunities for the Malachi Mills House. Until the SWP has title to the property we will not eligible for most funding, which puts off when we will be able to apply for funding until probably the summer.
The Baltimore National Heritage Area Association does have an upcoming small capital grants program that could work–the committee discussed the program and decided to apply for the sign project instead.
