Baldwin House

Exterior architectural characteristics of the Baldwin House in downtown Hagerstown make it a structure worth preserving, Maryland Historical Trust Director Rodney Little said Thursday. The Baldwin House complex, a former hotel, department store and warehouse at 32-48 W. Washington St. now owned by the city, has been selected for the planned $12.5 million University System of Maryland Hagerstown Education Center. Earlier this week, state officials announced the buildings would be renovated despite a recommendation from a private engineering firm that the Baldwin House be demolished.

Hagerstown elected officials discussed the future of the Baldwin House complex with local developer Don Bowman for an hour Tuesday afternoon behind closed doors. After the meeting at City Hall Bowman would say only that he was interested in continuing to talk with city officials about developing the city-owned vacant complex at 32-46 W. Washington St. "He's interested and we're certainly willing to work with him," said Councilman J. Wallace McClure. Mayor Robert E. Bruchey II said city officials have set a Sept.

A contract for a company to start removing hazardous materials at the Baldwin House complex for what will become the University System of Maryland Hagerstown Education Center is expected to be awarded in early May, a system official said Tuesday. The contractor, which would also shore up the complex in downtown Hagerstown, would be expected to start work soon afterward, said Mark Beck, University System capital planning director. The $870,000 for that work is in this year's state budget.

After touring the crumbling, downtown Baldwin House to see whether it might be renovated into a University of Maryland branch campus, a spokesman for the school system called the activity "enlightening. " No doubt it was that, although I don't know whether "enlightening" can be taken as a positive in this instance. Train wrecks are enlightening. So is vascular kidney surgery on The Learning Channel, but unless you're Marcus Welby or possibly Hannibal Lecter, it's nothing you'd think of downloading as a screensaver.

laurae@herald-mail.com Construction workers are in the final stages of restoring the former Baldwin House complex to its original turn-of-the-century grandeur. According to C. David Warner III, executive director of what will be the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown facility when it's finished, the $13 million center is on schedule to open in January. Faux marble walls have been repaired in the hallways of what used to be a hotel in its heyday. Ornate crown molding and original floor-to-ceiling windows have been brought back to their original condition.

An alley adjacent to the Baldwin House complex will be closed to all traffic starting Sunday due to work Callas Contractors Inc. is doing on the future home of the University System of Maryland Hagerstown Education Center. The alley, east of what was once Routzahn's department store, could be closed for up to three months, according to a City of Hagerstown news release. Other alleys near the City Parking Deck will remain open. The contractor's work on the building includes roof replacement and interior cleaning.

On Tuesday, officials representing Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening told the Hagerstown City Council that the state has decided to renovate the Baldwin House complex for a new downtown campus of the University Systems of Maryland instead of tearing down the buildings and starting over. It was a complete reversal of the June 1999 assessment by university officials. But John Frece, the governor's point man on "Smart Growth" initiatives, said the studies that led to this decision were more comprehensive than those done previously.

pepperb@herald-mail.com In its late-19th century heyday, The Baldwin House, site of the new University System of Maryland at Hagerstown, was a hotel trimmed with elegance. But after a 1914 fire, the hotel fizzled, changed hands and later became a hot potato for city officials and developers drumming up ideas for the decaying space. It had been more than 100 years since The Baldwin House opened its doors, but by the mid-1990s, the once-rich brick building was described as "Hagerstown's largest eyesore.

University System of Maryland officials could begin deciding next month how much of the Baldwin House complex can be used for an education center. The structural and environmental analyses on the 32-46 W. Washington St. complex are expected to be completed by April 10, said Robert P. Sweeney, project director for the planned University System of Maryland education center. Sweeney and Charles R. Middleton, vice chancellor of academic affairs, gave the Washington County Commissioners and Hagerstown's Mayor and City Council a project update on Tuesday.

For the the 154th in a series of articles on the historical and architectural treasures of Washington County, Pat Schooley surveys the renovated Baldwin House, site of the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown The restoration of the Baldwin House is a tour-de-force, an incredible effort by talented professionals who brought the project in under budget. The students, staff and administrators of the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown, which is in its first semester, can proudly call the Baldwin House home.

marlob@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - Alan Clingan caught something recently and he can't shake it - nor does he want to. What the 62-year-old Hagerstown native came down with was the "research bug. " "It all started 10 years ago when I got interested in a fire at a table works factory in the West End, which happened in the 1950s when I was a kid," Clingan said. The memories of his father - the owner of a variety shop on Church Street - taking him to see the aftermath of the fire made an impression on that 9-year-old boy. "I also remember I developed a fear of night fires after that incident," Clingan said.

For the the 154th in a series of articles on the historical and architectural treasures of Washington County, Pat Schooley surveys the renovated Baldwin House, site of the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown The restoration of the Baldwin House is a tour-de-force, an incredible effort by talented professionals who brought the project in under budget. The students, staff and administrators of the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown, which is in its first semester, can proudly call the Baldwin House home.

pepperb@herald-mail.com In its late-19th century heyday, The Baldwin House, site of the new University System of Maryland at Hagerstown, was a hotel trimmed with elegance. But after a 1914 fire, the hotel fizzled, changed hands and later became a hot potato for city officials and developers drumming up ideas for the decaying space. It had been more than 100 years since The Baldwin House opened its doors, but by the mid-1990s, the once-rich brick building was described as "Hagerstown's largest eyesore.

Editor's note: This is the first of a six-part series about the opening of the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown. andrews@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN = One warm day more than three years ago, state Sen. Donald F. Munson led a group of colleagues from the Senate on a tour of Hagerstown. They stopped and chatted with people who recognized Munson. They stepped into the Washington County Arts Council Gallery on South Potomac Street and browsed. As the group cut through a parking lot on its way to West Washington Street, then-Sen.

laurae@herald-mail.com Construction workers are in the final stages of restoring the former Baldwin House complex to its original turn-of-the-century grandeur. According to C. David Warner III, executive director of what will be the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown facility when it's finished, the $13 million center is on schedule to open in January. Faux marble walls have been repaired in the hallways of what used to be a hotel in its heyday. Ornate crown molding and original floor-to-ceiling windows have been brought back to their original condition.

gregs@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - A construction worker injured his leg when he fell part-way through a floor Friday morning in the Baldwin House Complex on West Washington Street in downtown Hagerstown. Rescue operations closed a section of the street for more than an hour. Community Rescue Service Capt. Chuck Singleton said the man was walking on the building's fourth floor when his right leg punched through the wood planks. The man was still at Washington County Hospital late Friday, but his condition could not be obtained because he was unwilling to release his name, CRS Chief Chris Amos said.

An alley adjacent to the Baldwin House complex will be closed to all traffic starting Sunday due to work Callas Contractors Inc. is doing on the future home of the University System of Maryland Hagerstown Education Center. The alley, east of what was once Routzahn's department store, could be closed for up to three months, according to a City of Hagerstown news release. Other alleys near the City Parking Deck will remain open. The contractor's work on the building includes roof replacement and interior cleaning.

laurae@herald-mail.com The state Wednesday awarded a $1 million contract to a Hagerstown company that will stabilize the Baldwin House complex for the University System of Maryland Hagerstown Education Center. Callas Contractors Inc. is scheduled to begin work July 1 to remove asbestos and lead paint and replace roofs and floors throughout the West Washington Street complex, said Jane Briggs, project manager for the University System. The bulk of the renovation work, which is to be bid separately, will begin later this year.

A contract for a company to start removing hazardous materials at the Baldwin House complex for what will become the University System of Maryland Hagerstown Education Center is expected to be awarded in early May, a system official said Tuesday. The contractor, which would also shore up the complex in downtown Hagerstown, would be expected to start work soon afterward, said Mark Beck, University System capital planning director. The $870,000 for that work is in this year's state budget.

Exterior architectural characteristics of the Baldwin House in downtown Hagerstown make it a structure worth preserving, Maryland Historical Trust Director Rodney Little said Thursday. The Baldwin House complex, a former hotel, department store and warehouse at 32-48 W. Washington St. now owned by the city, has been selected for the planned $12.5 million University System of Maryland Hagerstown Education Center. Earlier this week, state officials announced the buildings would be renovated despite a recommendation from a private engineering firm that the Baldwin House be demolished.