Three and a half years after proposing to tear down five historic rowhouses it owns in Mount Vernon to create a prayer garden, the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation is taking a different approach.
As part of a $10 million capital campaign currently underway, church leaders are seeking $3 million to transform the houses into a gathering space for parish and community use.
The four-story houses at 35, 37, 39, 41 and 43 W. Preston Street are across the street from the cathedral at 24 W. Preston Street. They date from the 1890s, were donated to the church and have been vacant for years. Their front façades would be retained under the church’s plan, but their interiors would be removed to create the proposed gathering space, which leaders are calling the “Preston Street Pavilion.”
The plan is outlined on a website for the fund drive, called the All Together/Oli Mazi Capital Campaign. A rendering shows that the front walls of the row houses would remain standing and the gathering space would be created behind them. The rendering shows adults and children both standing and seated in the space, with tables and chairs at ground level and a mezzanine one floor above.
“A dynamic complement will be added to the recently restored [Annunciation Orthodox Center] in the form of a large Pavilion that will beautifully transform the five Preston Street rowhouses,” the website states in a section called “Campaign Case for Support.”
In addition to the Preston Street Pavilion project, church leaders are seeking $6 million to modernize the Father George P. Gallos Education Center, located just west of the cathedral on the even side of W. Preston Street, to serve the parish and community more effectively. Plans call for improvements to the Father Constantine Monios Social Hall, foyer, library, meeting rooms, kitchen, classrooms and mechanical systems.
The education center upgrade is the first phase of the project and the rowhouse project is the second phase. The campaign is also seeking $1 million to strengthen the cathedral’s endowment.
According to the website, the church has secured more than $8.1 million in pledges as of April 24. Renovations to the education building began in March, with an anticipated completion date of around Sept. 15.
Urban Design Group of Baltimore is the church’s architect; Whiting Turner is the construction manager; Engenium is the mechanical and electrical engineer, and Baird & Associates is the owner’s representative. Capital Bank agreed to provide a bridge loan while funds are being secured.
“Nearly 200 faithful stewards have helped to bring us to this point,” the website states. “Their generosity has created real momentum…We pray that this work continues to be guided by our faith in Christ as we build and strengthen the ministry of our Holy Cathedral for generations to come.”
Part of a historic district
The cathedral, the adjoining education center and the five rowhouses are all located in the Mount Vernon historic district, which means that any changes to their exteriors must be reviewed and approved by Baltimore’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) before the city will issue a building permit.
Plans for the education center, which dates from 1960, have not sparked controversy.
But in November of 2022 the church alarmed preservationists when its attorney, Caroline Hecker, sent a letter to the city saying leaders wanted to replace the midblock houses with “a prayer garden and other hardscape improvements for faith-based gatherings and other functions on the Properties, in furtherance of the Church’s religious mission.”
The demolition application triggered a multi-step process in which CHAP schedules public hearings to determine whether to approve a demolition request.
During the first public hearing in December of 2022, church representatives testified that the vacant houses are in poor condition, had lost their architectural integrity, would be prohibitively expensive to renovate, and posed a fire and safety threat to the surrounding community. They said a prayer garden would be a positive addition to the area.
Preservationists argued that the houses, designed by John Appleton Wilson, are historically and architecturally significant and should be renovated for new uses, not torn down. They said Wilson’s design was distinctive in its use of Palladian windows, elegant brickwork and Ionic columns to frame each entrance. They argued that tearing the houses down would create a “gap-toothed look” in an otherwise unbroken streetscape and undermine past preservation efforts by literally eroding the historic district.
At the end of the hearing, panel members voted unanimously that the houses are contributing structures in the historic district. The vote came after CHAP received 156 letters and emails from people urging the board not to allow the church to tear the buildings down. It opened the door for the applicants to request a second public hearing if they still want a demolition permit.
Hecker said after the first hearing that church leaders were willing to work with the community and give preservationists time to explore alternatives to demolition. Charles Duff of Jubilee Baltimore formed a committee of design and construction experts to tour the houses and come up with economically viable ways of preserving them. A second CHAP hearing about the prayer garden proposal, required before any demolition permits could be issued by the city, was never held.
No public review
The Pavilion plan outlined in the capital campaign is a sign that church leaders listened to the preservationists and haven’t stopped working to figure out what to do with the vacant houses. CHAP has not reviewed it in a public hearing.
Jack Danna, president of the Mount Vernon-Belvedere Association (MVBA), said he was aware that church leaders have agreed to hold off on demolishing the front façades but they have not presented their latest plans to MVBA’s general membership or its Architectural Review Committee. He declined to express an opinion on the approach, saying he didn’t have enough information about it.
