Southwest Partnership
Historic Preservation Committee
February 19, 2018
6:00 p.m.
St. Luke’s Church, 217 N. Carey Street
Minutes
Present
Scott Kashnow
Jane Mayrer
Danial Rodenburg
Kimberly Sheridan
Bishop Cephas Richardson
Betsy Waters
Baltimore Street Preservation Corridor
Baltimore Street is going through some changes, buildings are coming down. A developer has acquired the building on the northeast corner of Carey and Baltimore Streets and began work without first obtaining permits. A stop-work order is being sought because of lack of oversight. There will be a hearing with the City.
The owner of property in the 1100 block of Baltimore Street has not maintained the property as promised, and continues to request, and obtain, extensions for completing the work based on a claim of hardship.
A lot of rehabilitation work in being done on South Calhoun Street in the 112-114 block. These structures are part of the “Vacants-to-Value” program.
At Baltimore and Schroeder Streets, there is an open green lot, then a row of houses. The developer who owns some of these houses is trying to acquire ownership of all the lots to develop the space for residential housing.
Demolition Update
The 1212 – 1226 section of Hollins Street has been demolished. That property has experienced several fires, the houses were condemned. Deconstruction, rather than demolition, was not possible due to the fire damage.
South Gilmore Street
No. 119 S. Gilmore Street, an 1880s structure which has been vacant for some time, has been purchased and improvements made. Additional stories have been erected at the back of the structure, which were not included in the original plans submitted for approval for development.
North Calhoun Street
The two garages located at 18 and 20 North Calhoun Street have been taken down. People were dumping trash in the dilapidated structures. The homes on Norris Street face these two properties. The trash and debris need to be removed.
Fayette Street
Houses at 1411 and 1413 Fayette Street need to be stabilized before they suffer further deterioration. Scott hopes that SWP can generate interest by cleaning up the property and perhaps planning a garden.
North Fulton Street
The SWP has received a telephone call from the owner of the property at 325 N. Fulton Street offering to sell the building for $5,000. This is the property with the Franklin Square mural painted on the house at the northwest entrance to the Franklin Square neighborhood. One consideration regarding acquiring this property is whether there are liens on the property. Another issue is that 323 N. Fulton is still vacant and in bad shape. The City has inquired as to whether the SWP is interested in also acquiring 323.
Malachi Mills House
The Franklin Square and Union Square community associations have met with developers of the 1500 block of Baltimore Street. Social Impact Development has offered to help develop the Malachi Mills House to make it a museum. They have acquired 1518 Baltimore Street, the building which housed the laundry mat.
Sign Project
The committee is still trying to find funding for the neighborhood signs project. One possible grant requires matching funds. Another possibility is that each neighborhood could apply to the SWP for grants. Scott estimates that the cost for each neighborhood would be $2,500. Application deadline is in April.
SWP Area Mapping Project
Ideas for ways in which to create a finished project were discussed. There was discussion regarding design and layout of the map, and a format was agreed upon, based upon the “D.C. Sightseeing Tour” free map. Also discussed was a one-page card with a bar code to allow information to be accessed by cell phone. Also discussed was cost of producing the map and how to pay for that. It was suggested that the map itself could raise funds by selling advertisement space on the margins of the map.
Location of Next Meeting
The March meeting of the Historic Preservation will be at historic St. Luke’s Church, 217 N. Carey Street, at 6:00 p.m.
