By Luke Parker
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Supporters of a bill to commemorate the former Catonsville Elementary School building as a historical landmark addressed the Baltimore County Council Tuesday afternoon.
“Those of us who are very strongly in support of this building still feel the same way,” Catonsville resident Char Brooks said.
The building, which began serving students in 1910 and was decommissioned only four years ago, has been for years the target of a tug-of-war between residents and the Baltimore County School System. Currently, two programs operate out of the building with the rest of the facility used primarily as storage space.
Local advocates like Brooks stress that the public should be able to benefit from the century-old building. Supporters want the building to become a multipurpose community center.
The county, which The Baltimore Sun reports saves money by leasing office space directly to its own administrations, has not approved the repurposing.
“I think part of what makes Catonsville so personal, warm, and inviting is keeping some of the older architecture that’s there,” resident Deana Holler said. “I think that instead of levelling things and building new, it’s nice to be able to renovate them and use them for other purposes.”
Debate over the use of the school began in 2016 after the elementary school left its original site in the 600 block of Frederick Road and moved to the nearby Bloomsbury Community Center, displacing several community groups and arts programs that used the space. Later that year, the county considered demolishing the original site and building a smaller community center for $3.6 million – but decided against it when faced with local protests.
The former Catonsville Elementary School is currently on the county’s Landmark Preservation Committee’s preliminary list. The County Council, however, will decide on March 2 whether to include the school as part of the Final Historical Landmarks List.
If approved, plans for demolition or exterior alteration would have to be approved by the committee.
In introducing the bill to the council’s work session, Councilman Tom Quirk, a Democrat who represents Catonsville, recognized the effort of the committee to include the former elementary school on its landmark list.
“Obviously, this has been out there for a little while,” Quirk told Peter Gutwald, the director of the Department of Planning. “I appreciate your help and your department’s help in putting the former Catonsville Elementary School on the Landmark’s list.”
1 Comment
Please, whomever is listening, can you tear this building down? The “Powers-that-be” who’ve persisted here for so long had refused to acknowledge, respond to, or help those with high-functioning mental disabilities including autism, add (dsm 4e), adhd (dsm 4e and 5e), etc. to succeed. As a person possessing a mental disability, and who attended this school, know that I was constantly subject to verbal, physical, and emotional abuse at this school (and I was not alone) by teachers. To whomever is listening, please listen to me: God, tear this building down. Heck, make the razed space into something in which all kids can enjoy, and not something in which the ignorant nostalgic can sometimes gawk at.