Scott, the Chairman of the Historic Preservation Committee, anchored the meeting. All members of the committee present and invited guests introduced themselves.
Fire – 1500 West Baltimore Street – How to respond?
Scott talked about the recent fire incident in the SWP catchment area. He said he brought up the fire incident because he wanted the committee members to discuss it. He then asked a question: How do we (Historic Preservation Committee) respond to the incident? Carrie responded by providing an update to what SWP did and have been doing in response to the fire incident. She said SWP has reached out to those affected by the fire incident, and moved funds around for repairs. SWP reached out to the Chinese restaurants that were affected by the fire incident. SWP reached out to the business owners that were affected by the fire incident. She said some things such as passports that were retrieved from the fire have been given back to the rightful owners.
Water issues on those blocks were mentioned.
Fire department checks the water hydrants/water pressure
More aggressive ways of going after the building owners or boarding them up.
Carrie informed committee members about City Councilman Ramos’ introduction of a bill to resolve some of these issues and plugged some activities of the Housing Committee.
CHAP Update
– recap great success at last hearing
– Next hearing July – engagement ideas
Carrie gave an update on the hearings and mentioned that the testimonies provided made an impression on the Commissioners. She mentioned the three possible outcomes and that they voted in favor of the best possible outcome which was what the one this committee wanted. However, this will not be on the agenda until July. The way moving forward is to write more letters and continue the push as the fight is long from over. What this does is that it gives us more time for organizing.
Scott mentioned the article on the Baltimore Sun and posted the link on the chat.
Heritage Investment Grant BNHA – 1504 W Balt.
Carrie gave an update on this: Core funding for stabilization of building.
Hire a consultant
Scope of work: What type of museum, study possibilities, advise next steps
Scott informed us about his scheduled meeting with Johns Hopkins: Introductions, workable business plan – profit/nonprofit, checkout different options, what works/what does not work, so many program options, consultant business plan.
Committee members brought up ideas on how to generate revenue in the museum.
African American Heritage Preservation Program grant MHT – Bruce St Stable
Carrie gave an update: Application for funding – more funding, lots of work to be done, money to be spent, application due at the end of July.
Phases – Stabilization – Grant
SOWEBO Fest
– Lord Baltimore Stage
– Materials/ volunteers for Semi – annual meeting
Scott gave an update: Activities are being worked out, Dance, Fashion Show, Music,
Creativity Grants.
Carrie – Also working with CHAPS to get all the approvals for this project, Still looking for volunteers for the festival.
1504 End Use
Activity: Website Update
Committee members suggested creative ideas on how to make the website better. Pictures were suggested to be included. The website could also be revamped to look better. Committee members to find stories about their neighborhoods and add to a google doc. SWP is yet to hire a marketing person who will fulfill this role.
Old Business
- Storytelling Review/1504 Rename/Social Media
- Lord Baltimore Theater
