Mount Vernon activists want homes saved
In the Mount Vernon neighborhood, where distinguished architecture and history seem to jump out on every corner, it’s no surprise that when a prominent institution applies to tear down a block of historic homes it owns, there’s an outcry.
The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation applied for a demolition permit from the city’s Commission for Historic and Architectural Preservation earlier this year for homes that face the cathedral on West Preston Street. The congregation says it wants to make a prayer garden on the site.
The houses in question date to 1892 and are a Baltimore treasure. Designed as an entire row by architect J. Appleton Wilson, they were constructed in a light coffee colored brick with classic dormer windows. Several have Palladian-style windows. The fine looking homes complement the landmark cathedral across the street. It’s quite a successful architectural ensemble.
As the Cathedral has invested heavily in its beautiful sanctuary and in the houses themselves, there is a certain irony in the demolition request. In the mid-1930s, the cathedral congregation was outgrowing its then home on Homewood Avenue at Chase Street. The elders of the congregation were looking to move.
In a story told in parish historian Nicholas Prevas’ book, “House of God...Gateway to Heaven” there was a vacancy at the old Associate Congregational Church at Preston Street and Maryland Avenue. That congregation had merged, moved on and left a vacant building behind.
Baltimore’s Greek community was ready to buy the empty church and make use of its Port Deposit granite walls. The only problem was the Continental Oil Co. had an option to buy the old church and erect a filling station. (This part of Mount Vernon was something of an auto sales and repair district. Yellow Cab’s garage was then a block south.)
There was a legal loophole that saved the day. Continental Oil needed Mayor Howard Jackson to sign an ordinance allowing a filling station to be placed at Preston and Maryland.
There was negotiation. The congregation raised a lot of money in the Depression years. Many people did not want to see an iconic structure so perfectly suited for a new congregation to use and love be knocked down for another gas station. Mayor Jackson held off signing the pro-gas station ordinance and an important Baltimore building was saved.
On May 7, 1937, The Sun reported: “Vacant for nearly three years and fated to a filling station, the old Associate Congregational Church ... has been renovated by the Greek Orthodox Congregation at a cost of $12,000. The stone has been cleaned, a new railing built and new evergreens planted on the front lawn.”
Between 1993 and 2002, the cathedral congregation moved decisively to acquire the row of houses it now wants to demolish.
Nearly 30 years ago the neighborhood was down on its luck. It was a solid boost for Mount Vernon that the congregation took a bold step, bought the rundown homes and invested in the stewardship of these architecturally significant properties.
What the congregation did, in the long run, materially helped Mount Vernon. Annunciation made this neighborhood a better place to live and work. In the past few years, the neighborhood has, block by block, building by building, improved.
“We are one of the few neighborhoods that saw population growth since the last census,” said Mount Vernon-Belvedere Association President Jack Danna.
He joined other residents who visited Preston Street on a recent Sunday morning and passed out leaflets as members of the congregation arrived for services.
“We opened a dialogue,” Danna said. “We were grateful for the opportunity to give out our flyers. We think of the Cathedral as an anchor in our neighborhood.
“At the same time, we are adamantly opposed that these buildings should come down,” Danna said.