The new owners of Mount Vernon Place Church are seeking to raise $50,000 by Oct. 1 to “ensure the church’s future as both a cultural and civic anchor” for the surrounding historic district.
Preservation Maryland, a statewide organization, has announced the start of a fund drive to support the work of UNITE Mount Vernon Inc., the preservation-oriented non-profit that acquired the church at 2 E. Mount Vernon Place on July 10 for $500,000.
The seller was the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church. The buyers agreed to lease back part of the church to the Methodist congregation that worships there while they renovate other areas within the 153-year-old landmark, including its 900-seat sanctuary, for new uses.
Preservation Maryland has agreed to work with UNITE Mount Vernon by serving as its fiscal sponsor. That means it can accept tax-deductible contributions to a fundraising campaign for UNITE Mount Vernon, a newly formed entity, until it receives non-profit status from the Internal Revenue Service.
The $50,000 amount represents the first stage of a larger fundraising effort, from which UNITE Mount Vernon is aiming to raise $750,000 by the end of 2025. The group already has secured more than $300,000 to put toward its revitalization effort, which is expected to cost anywhere from $5 million to $10 million or more.
Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson was instrumental in securing passage of state legislation that allocated $250,000 for redevelopment efforts. The Goldseker Foundation has granted $50,000 in start-up funds and the Mount Vernon Belvedere Association (MVBA) is providing $10,000 to support a community engagement effort. The estimated timetable for finishing all of the work is four to six years, but some phases of the renovation could be completed much sooner than that.
‘Major step’
In announcing the fundraising campaign, Preservation Maryland President and CEO Nicholas Redding said the effort to restore and activate the church marks “a major step” toward revitalizing Mount Vernon Place.
This investment “adds new impetus to the 40-year commitment to a preservation-based approach that strengthens the broader Mount Vernon community as well as the historic Charles Street corridor,” Redding wrote in an email message.
“Since the 1960s, Mount Vernon has worked to protect and rehabilitate its historic structures as a means to generate growth and revitalization,” he continued. “While maintaining a living link to the original purpose of the Church, the new owners will provide ample space for expanded secular use. With a fundraising goal of $50,000 by October 1, UNITE Mount Vernon invites the community to support this visionary project and ensure the church’s future as both a cultural and civic anchor.”
UNITE Mount Vernon Inc. has a governing board that consists of four members. Its chair is Jack Danna, Director of Commercial Revitalization for the Central Partnership of Baltimore and current president of the MVBA, the community organization that represents the area where the church is located.
Its vice chair is Elizabeth Bonner, a preservationist and entrepreneur who is a board member of the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy and former board member of the Walters Art Museum.
Its secretary is Ann Powell, an architect who heads a company called Plan Build LLC and serves on Baltimore’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation.
Its fourth member is Henry Holt Hopkins a descendant of the founder of Johns Hopkins University, chair of the board of the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy, and president of the Friends of Clifton Mansion, once Johns Hopkins’ country home.
The group is planning a “public scoping and engagement process” to firm up ideas for adaptive reuse of the church. According to Preservation Maryland, initial concepts envision a multi-functional site under non-profit ownership, with an emphasis on public event space and commercial uses.
“This is a major step towards reactivating this anchor of the Mount Vernon neighborhood,” Danna said in Preservation Maryland’s announcement. “We look forward to working with the community, residents, foundations, businesses and public partners to chart the next chapter in this architectural wonder’s story.”
“Preserving this incredible structure along with direct and tangible community benefits will be our guiding lights in this effort,” Powell said.
“Cultural epicenter’
The UNITE Mount Vernon board members say that restoring and activating the church will support the mission of the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy, which since 2008 has raised and invested more than $20 million to restore the Washington Monument and maintain the four public parks that surround it. The Conservancy plans to start work soon to restore the North and South squares.
“Saving the Mount Vernon United Methodist Church goes hand-in-hand with the restoration of Mount Vernon Place,” said Hopkins. “When transformed, these squares will become a jewel for Mount Vernon and Baltimore City. Equally important, Mount Vernon Place will become one of the nation’s premier urban small parks.”
Furthermore, Hopkins said, “this action by UNITE affirms the importance of ensuring Mount Vernon Place and Mount Vernon United Methodist Church remain the cultural epicenter of Baltimore and for generations to come, along with the Peabody Institute…and the Walters Art Museum, also prominently located along Mount Vernon Place.”
In its announcement, Preservation Maryland disclosed that the adjoining 1855 mansion at 10 E. Mount Vernon Place, called Asbury House and formerly used as the church’s offices, has been acquired by one of the UNITE Mount Vernon board members, Bonner. The price was $350,000.
Working through an entity called Asbury House LLC, Bonner has already begun restoring the exterior of Asbury House, using separate funds. Her personal commitment to the restoration and reuse of Asbury House, Preservation Maryland noted, will allow future fundraising efforts to focus exclusively on renovating and activating the 1872 church.
Preservation Maryland’s role
Preservation Maryland’s fiscal sponsorship allows donors, including those who funded the acquisition, to immediately support the project through charitable donations. Until UNITE Mount Vernon Inc. receives its non-profit status from the IRS, charitable donations can be made securely through Preservation Maryland on its website via this link or via check.
Donations will help defray the start-up expenses of the church preservation effort. Checks should be made out to Preservation Maryland, and in the note the message should read: For Mount Vernon Campaign. Preservation Maryland’s address is: Preservation Maryland, 3600 Clipper Mill Road, Suite 248, Baltimore, Md. 21211.
“Calling a piece of architecture iconic is not something we do lightly — but that’s exactly what you should call the Mount Vernon United Methodist Church,” Redding said in his announcement of the fund drive. “When the need arose for a fiscal sponsor, we knew we had to step up, given our mission and long-term commitment to the City of Baltimore.”
Interested in Mt. Vernon Church. Please include me in newsletter.