‘Everything was lit up’
Arch Social Club seeks zoning approval for new marquee signaling rebirth of Pennsylvania Avenue
Sometimes, a sign of upcoming social change is just that — a sign.
A zoning hearing Tuesday afternoon will determine whether the Arch Social Club can proceed with plans to erect a marquee on the facade of the historic 109-year-old building it owns at North and Pennsylvania avenues.
If a zoning change for the building from rowhouse/mixed use to a commercial use is approved, a new 4.5-foot-tall, 12-footwide marquee would spell out the name of the Arch Social Club in dark letters, backlit by LED lighting.
The Arch is the oldest known continuously operating African American social club in the United States. The organization’s president, Van Anderson, hopes the sign will signal the rebirth of Pennsylvania Avenue as the hub of Baltimore’s thriving Black cultural district.
“It’s going to take awhile for the Avenue to come all the way back,” Anderson said. “But when it does, we’ll be ready.”
The Beaux Arts-style building was designed by architect Paul Emmart as a vaudeville and silent film theater in 1912 and opened originally as the Schantze
Theatre. Over the years, it served Black and Jewish customers under several names: the Morgan, the Uptown, the Cinema. A marquee was added in 1942; the sign proposed by the Arch Social Club would be historically compatible with and resemble the original marquee, Anderson said.
The city Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation approved the proposed marquee in September.
“They have done such a wonderful job of restoring the facade of the building to its earlier, historical appearance,” said Lauren Schiszik, a historic preservation planner for the commission.
“The building already has such presence. It’s so alive and vibrant that you can’t go by it and not notice it. The marquee will increase its visibility even more.”
The process of restoring the building to its former beauty has been long and slow. In some ways, it mirrors the attempts to revive the Pennsylvania Avenue corridor.
Anderson encountered Pennsylvania Avenue in its full glory as a boy in the 1960s, driving down the street with his family.
“Everything was lit up,” he recalled. “There were so many people in the street that you couldn’t drive faster than 5 miles an hour. It was full of bars and nightclubs and movie theaters and places to go.”
The area was home to the Royal and Metropolitan theaters and such entertainment venues as the Bamboo Lounge, Club Casino and Club Tijuana, which attracted top black entertainers of the day.
“What I remember most was that it felt clean and safe,” Anderson said. “Everybody was walking from place to place. That’s going to be key to our plans. We want the neighborhood and our building to look and feel clean and safe.”
The two-story vaudeville palace fell on hard times while the neighborhood was still enjoying its heyday. A fire ravaged the theater in 1949 and ended its role as an entertainment venue, according to a report prepared by the historical commission staff.
For more than two decades, the building at 2426 Pennsylvania Ave. was part of Wilson’s seafood restaurant. Wooden siding covered its entrance behind two Corinthian pilasters. The large, half-moon-shaped window on the second floor was boarded over. The paint on two female figures lounging over the window and holding Greek masks signifying comedy and tragedy was chipped and faded.
The neighborhood around the former theater began to deteriorate in 1968 with the devastating riots, fires and looting that followed the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The following decade, the city dealt Pennsylvania Avenue another blow when it demolished several iconic buildings in the name of urban renewal.
Arch Social Club, founded in 1905, relocated to the theater from Saratoga Street in 1972.
Today, new signs of life can be detected in the building and the neighborhood.
In 2018, Arch Social Club members won a $118,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation
to help restore the marquee and other improvements. The club has been working with the architectural firm of David H. Gleason Associates, and is attempting to raise $5 million for planned renovations.
Anderson hopes the building eventually will become a venue for jazz and blues combos and other types of live music that would entertain audiences of as many as 500 people. A planned museum would explore the Arch’s history and heritage. There will be new electrical and plumbing systems, elevators and physical accommodations for people with disabilities.
And in the summer of 2019, the Maryland Department of Commerce designated the surrounding neighborhood as the Pennsylvania Avenue Black Arts Entertainment District — the nation’s first Black entertainment district, according to CHAP — making tax credits available to develop spaces where artists live, work and perform.
Brion “Lady Brion” Gill, a spoken-word poet and executive director for the arts and entertainment district, thinks that a splendid new marquee topping the Arch will signal to the world that the Pennsylvania Avenue corridor is on its way back.
“That intersection is the gateway to the Black Arts and Entertainment district,” she said.
“The Arch Social Club is one of the district’s gems. It has survived with the times and helped to preserve the rich legacy and culture of Pennsylvania Avenue. The Arch has not only survived, it has adapted to the times and enhanced its mission. We are super-excited about what they have planned.”
From a second-year player’s jump to a performance that possibly clinched a bid to the NCAA tournament, here are three takeaways from the Maryland men’s basketball team’s 73-55 win over Michigan State on Sunday.
Hakim Hart’s progression has helped round out the starting five.
This time last year, Hart was struggling to crack the rotation as he made the adjustment from high school to college. But the sophomore from Philadelphia has established himself to be a bona fide starter as a sophomore.
Hart, who didn’t appear in 10 straight games last season during the heart of
the Terps’ conference schedule, first gave an inkling he returned to College Park an improved player when he dropped a careerhigh 32 points against St. Peter’s, tied for the most by a Maryland player since 2015.
As the season progressed, Hart has shown himself to be more than just a spot-up shooter. The fourth guard in Maryland’s small-ball starting lineup, Hart has taken on point guard duties, defended well and has started to make more plays off the dribble.
When Michigan State closed Maryland’s lead to five within 10 minutes remaining, Hart opened and closed the scoring on the Terps’ 9-2 run to distance themselves from the Spartans. He first scored a tough driving layup over Rocket Watts, then hit a 3-pointer to put Maryland up by 12 with 5:13 remaining. Hart has scored in double figures in back-to-back games for the first time since January.
“He’s physically tougher, he’s mentally tougher. He’s tired of me yelling at him about being soft and his confidence is growing,” Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said. “I started playing him at point and he’s been great with it. Our players love him, respect him, and they’re encouraging him to play with more toughness.
“We recruited him because of his shooting and we recruited him because he was a great passer, and it’s kind of all coming together now.”
Donta Scott has been up to the task as Maryland’s top big man.
Scott opened conference play with double-digit scoring in nine of Maryland’s first 10 games and looked to be the Terps’ best scoring option early in the season. But as junior guards Eric Ayala and Aaron Wiggins have stepped up with a strong offensive stretch, the sophomore forward’s offensive numbers have dropped; Scott has only reached double figures in two of Maryland’s past eight games.
And yet, Scott has continued to make
all-around contributions as the sole big in the Terps’ starting lineup. He recorded at least seven rebounds for the fourth straight game Sunday and led the team with five assists before providing all seven of his points late in the second half as the Terps pulled away.
“He can be just a great passer and then sometimes he can just lock out and not know who we’re playing or what day it is,” Turgeon said. “But today, when he locked in, he was a great passer.
“I thought where he was the best was boxing out, because Malik Hall last year when we played here, he knocked Donta on his butt the first two plays of the game. And Donta wasn’t having any of that today. He got one rebound, I swear his head was right by the rim, Donta. He came to play. He was physical and had to be physical for us.”
The Terps can feel pretty confident that they’re going to the NCAA tournament.
Maryland’s ascent has been quick and maybe no team in the country has reversed its fortunes like the Terps. The team entered February four games under .500 but will head into March 9-9 in conference play with two regular-season games left and the Big Ten tournament looming.
The Terps were projected as a No. 9 seed by several experts heading into Sunday’s game, and after their win over a Michigan State team that had consecutive wins over top-five opponents, they can rest assured that regardless of how the regular season and conference tournament concludes, they will likely find their way into the NCAA tournament.
There’s still room for improvement, though, and stacking wins in the conference tournament would go a long way toward further silencing doubters of Turgeon and his squad. But it’s a testament to the work of everyone in Maryland’s program, starting with Turgeon and his coaching staff, that the discussion surrounding the Terps has shifted from wondering if they would be at the mercy of the selection committee to dreaming of what favorable matchup could await on Selection Sunday.