The vernacular Art Deco architecture of the Church Hill Theatre in rural Queen Anne’s County is a rare site – and its home to a local performing theatre company that also well cares for their historic theatre. Preservation Maryland will recognize Church Hill Theatre with a Community Choice award at the Best of Maryland preservation awards.
Using measurements gathered during a November workday, Preservation Maryland recently completed measured architectural drawings of the historic Malone’s Church deep in Dorchester County. The church is part of a touchstone in the African American community and a final resting place of many of those related to Harriet Tubman.
Preservation Maryland looks forward to highlighting the amazing work of Maryland’s preservationists each year at our Best of Maryland awards during Preservation Month. This year, the awardees include strong preservation advocates, committed stewards and volunteers, and impactful project leaders across the state. Please help us recognize the following awardees:
The Valve House is a historic former utility building nearby the campus of Civic Works in Clifton Park in Baltimore City. Aligning a potential reuse with Civic Works programmatic offerings, the Valve House may have another opportunity to serve the community.
Built in the 1880s as a component of the City’s water system, the structure was decommissioned in the 1960s and vacant ever since. Civic Works and Preservation Maryland entered a partnership in 2016 through our Six-to-Fix program to help create a vision for the future of the Valve House — the goal was to find a way to reintegrate the building into the active life of Clifton Park and the surrounding neighborhood.
Civic Works has an array of programs including the Real Food Farm that travels throughout the city creating educational opportunities about healthy food and agriculture via a mobile farmers market.
Inspired by this idea, Preservation Maryland Preservation Associate, Michelle Eshelman, first documented and then created architectural drawings of the Valve House and it’s setting in Clifton Park. A potential reuse scheme included bringing the Valve House back into active use with a public farmers market on the first floor and an upper floor for meeting and classroom space.
With these renderings and concepts now in their tool box, Civic Works will be better prepared to implement the reimagining and renovation of the Valve House if and when they acquire the property from the City of Baltimore.