The number of buildings lost in the Sept. 2 Superblock fire has risen from five to 11, all part of the city’s Five & Dime Historic District.
During a Sept. 9 hearing of the city’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP), panel members were told that four vacant buildings either collapsed or had to be taken down because they were structurally unsound and posed a threat to public safety, and that others were being evaluated. The rear portion of a fifth also was deemed unsalvageable.
The city-owned buildings that were initially targeted for demolition were located at 117, 119 and 121 N. Howard St. The building that collapsed as a result of the five-alarm fire was at 224 W. Fayette St. The building at 227 W. Lexington St. had its rear portion targeted for removal.
Over the past week, Baltimore housing department officials determined that more buildings were unsafe and had to come down. The list includes all of the buildings on the east side of the 100 block of North Howard Street – everything between Lexington and Fayette streets except for the former Read’s drugstore at 123 N. Howard St. The addresses are: 101-103, 105, 107, 109-111 and 113-115 N. Howard St. and 226 W. Fayette St. The losses include the former Howard Furniture Co. building, the former Bickford’s building and the former Pickwick Theatre.
According to Tammy Hawley, Chief of Strategic Communications for Baltimore’s housing department, officials determined that additional emergency demolition work was necessary as they learned more about the condition of the structures south of 117-121 N. Howard St. and Marion Alley.
“Additional demolition work was required beyond those properties as there was concern over the stability of 109, a large middle structure, and we used a contractor’s lift to get a closer look,” Hawley said in an email message. “We found significant damage to 109, the rear of 107 was collapsed, 105 had stress cracks, and 113’s side wall was bowing. Parts of 109 had collapsed onto 113 and it was determined that more was likely to collapse. It was too unsafe for crews to try and do hand work to demo just 109 safely. This resulted in 101 [to] 113 also being razed.”
The Superblock, assembled by the city for redevelopment, originally had 18 structures in the area bounded roughly by Lexington, Howard and Fayette streets and Park Avenue. The 18 buildings made up the heart of the city’s Five & Dime Historic District, one of 37 districts where changes to building exteriors are supposed to be approved by CHAP. Two of the 18 buildings were lost in 2024, after 220 W. Fayette St. collapsed and 222 W. Fayette St. was taken down because it was unsound.
As of Thursday, all of the Howard Street buildings between Marion Alley and Fayette Street have been reduced to rubble, leaving a giant hole in the streetscape. The cast iron front of 121 N. Howard St. was deconstructed and saved for potential reuse. The anticipated completion date for all demolition work is Saturday, Sept. 20, and material haul-out work will begin on Sunday, Sept. 21, Hawley said.
