This past weekend, we were able to take in a day long event called Doors Open Baltimore in which the public could explore many historic buildings throughout the city. This was the first year for the event, and seeing that Andrew is an architect, it was an obvious addition to our weekend happenings. While there were just too many buildings for us to take in, we picked a few throughout the city that we thought would be interesting.
My favorites were the Crown Industrial Park in Greektown and the Pearle Museum near City Hall. While Crown has been housing artist studios for about 40 years, they recently began to renovate one of their warehouses to bring it up to slightly more modern standards (read drywall, heat, and sprinkler systems). I had no clue that these studios existed until Saturday-- in fact, I thought the warehouses were abandoned. As you can imagine, I instantly had dreams of taking over one of these beautiful spaces for myself.
The image above is a look at one of their new studios in progress. I mean, seriously! Look at that beautiful potential!
The Peale Museum is rich in history, but no longer in use. It once housed a collection in the early 1800s, which now resides at the Maryland Historic Society. However, I've heard that there is a nonprofit architectural group that is hoping to restore it and use it for a museum once again. I enjoyed taking photographs here because it felt as though everything had stopped in time. Remnants of its use in the 90s as a conference center were still there-- fans, chairs, tables and all.
I hope that there is a similar event as Doors Open Baltimore next year. It would be fantastic to have an architectural tour of this kind on a yearly basis. It's incredible to learn about the history of your city through their buildings and understand a little bit more about Baltimore's past.
Does your city host an architectural tour? Have you ever been able to explore historic buildings in your city?