On Thursday, Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad Museum announced a $30-million renovation that will add new exhibits and a public plaza called the CSX Bicentennial Garden to the museum, as well as reorient the museum to front the Pigtown neighborhood. B&O has received a $5-million gift from CSX and a $3-million pledge from the State of Maryland for the project.
The renovation will be a remake of the 30,000 sq. ft. South Car Works building, which is currently just a space for maintenance. It is attached to the North Car Works building that is an exhibit of 20th century locomotives.
The entrance will be at the intersection of W. Cross St., Ramsay St., and James St. Currently B&O fronts that intersection with a retaining wall and surface lot that is one-story high.
The project will remove the surface lot and bring the property down to the grade of the adjacent streets, creating the CSX Bicentennial Garden. This will also expose the first floor of the South Car Works Building. The second floor of South Car Works will have balconies overlooking the CSX Bicentennial Garden.
New signage and landscaping will be added to this intersection.
Patrons will walk through the CSX Bicentennial Garden to the new entrance of the museum. The first floor of South Car Works will be free and not part of admission. It will have a lunch-focused cafe, a lobby, archives, and classroom space.
The admission portion of the museum will begin on the second floor where there will be an exhibit called Innovation Hall that will focus on the present and future of railroading technology. Patrons will then walk into the North Car Works to see the 20th Century exhibit and then into the Roundhouse to see 19th Century locomotives, which is connected to buildings with model trains and the Underground Railroad exhibit.
CSX Bicentennial Garden will host events such as live music, farmers’ markets, and community events.
