Lutheran Hospital, which closed six years ago, has been targeted for a $7 million conversion into shops and apartments for the elderly, easing area residents' fears about urban blight.
Redevelopment plans for the West Baltimore site would transform three former hospital buildings into 153 one- and two-bedroom apartments, while providing 26,000 square feet of office and retail space. The project also might spark similar interest in the west side of the old hospital campus, which includes four buildings.
Reviving the old Lutheran site would be a boost for Rosemont, a neighborhood of moderately priced rowhouses with tidy lawns.
"We really want to see the hospital buildings used for something we feel fits in with the neighborhood's needs and we do have many elderly in the area," said Mary Rosemond, president of the Alliance of Rosemont Community Organizations.
She said the neighborhood has been in decline.
"It's deteriorating and we need all the support we can get. Many homeowners are fighting to stay, although their children grew up and did not."
Monumental Management Inc., which is planning to develop the Lutheran property, has applied for financing from the state Community Development Administration. The apartment complex would be called Ashburton Square.
Alvin Greenfeld, president of Monumental, said the company has redeveloped Baltimore properties including the Marlborough, Lakeside and Queen Anne/Belvedere apartment complexes.
"We feel there is a lot of opportunity in the inner city for decent housing, particularly housing for the elderly that has proper security and proper amenities," he said. "That old hospital has become a big empty eyesore and we want to do something about it."
Part of the building is being used by doctors, a dentist and the Department of Social Services, all of which must move to new locations. New shops might include a drugstore, bank branch, ++ card shop -- even a day care center.
"Hopefully, the shops they're talking about will provide some jobs for people around here," said Phyllis Green, president of the LaBurt Improvement Association.
Construction could begin later this year if the City Council approves a zoning change and funding is obtained, Mr. Greenfeld said. He said the project should take about 14 months to complete.
Known as West Baltimore General Hospital when it opened in 1923, Lutheran merged with Provident Hospital in 1986 to become Liberty Medical Center. The merger was traumatic for West Baltimore.
Provident, founded in 1894, had served blacks when no other hospital in Baltimore would. Before integration, Lutheran had primarily served whites, but as they moved out of the neighborhood in the 1970s, Lutheran's patient population dropped drastically.
A proposal was made in 1987 to use the Lutheran buildings as a hospice for AIDS patients, but citizens groups helped to defeat the plan.
Liberty Medical Center phased out all of its medical uses of the Lutheran buildings in 1989 and moved them to Liberty Heights Avenue.
But the Lutheran Home and Hospital Foundation continued to maintain the old hospital property. Foundation trustees are selling the property to Monumental Management for an undisclosed price.
"Uppermost in the trustees' minds is to (a) not lose their shirts and (b) not create blight for the neighborhood," said Steve Gilman, one of the foundation trustees.
"We want to leave something for the neighborhood that is going to benefit the neighborhood."