NEARLY 20 years after the University of Baltimore's leaders expressed the desire to turn a former bank headquarters into a campus administrative center, the university appears likely to gain control of the building.
Baltimore attorney and Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos heads a group that has a contract to buy the former Loyola Federal Savings and Loan building at 1300 N. Charles St., the building that university President H. Mebane Turner wants to turn into an administrative center so he can free up space in other campus buildings.
Angelos moved to purchase the five-story building and an adjacent parking lot this year, and he and his wife, Georgia, have agreed to donate the parking lot to the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation on the next block.
The Orioles owner had to buy the building as well as the land because they were offered as a package by the seller, First Union National Bank. The sale is expected to be complete by next week.
Angelos is a University of Baltimore law school graduate and serves as a board member on the university's Educational Foundation. He indicated that he entered into the acquisition with the idea of selling the building to the university.
The stone and terra-cotta structure was built in 1927 as the Grand Lodge for the Knights of Pythias, a fraternal order. It later became a nightclub and then offices for Loyola, which was sold in 1995 to Crestar Financial Corp. The General Assembly allocated up to $2 million in the spring for the state to buy it on behalf of the university.
"I knew the university was interested in the building and obviously the cathedral was interested in retaining parking opportunities there," Angelos said. "So the easy solution was to buy the property and allocate the parking lot to the church and the building to the university. It's a nice building. It needs a lot of renovation, but it has tremendous potential."
Acquiring the Loyola building is the centerpiece of a long-range campus expansion plan that the university unveiled last summer.
Other elements of the plan include construction of a student union and residences, and expansion of the library.
Nine buildings to get Baltimore Heritage awards
Nine buildings have been selected to receive 1998 Preservation Project Awards from Baltimore Heritage Inc., a nonprofit preservation advocacy organization.
The awards recognize excellence in restoration, renovation or adaptive reuse of historic structures and will be presented at Baltimore Heritage's annual awards dinner from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the former American Can building, 2400 Boston St.
Recipients include:
The former Alex. Brown building at 135 E. Baltimore St., now a branch of Chevy Chase Bank; the Baltimore Zoo Mansion House in Druid Hill Park; the Battle Monument at Calvert and Fayette streets; the Neighborhood Design Center's restoration of a former Enoch Pratt Library branch at 1401 Hollins St.; and the Catered Living of Pikesville facilities at 7218 Park Heights Ave.
Also, the President Street Station at 601 President St.; the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Maryland on Eutaw Place; St. Elizabeth of Hungary Convent at Lakewood and Fairmount avenues in East Baltimore; and St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church at 120 N. Front St.
Awards recognizing people or organizations that have been instrumental in local preservation efforts will go to the Baltimore City Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation; homeowners in the 2600 block of Wilkens Ave. in Southwest Baltimore; the Society for the Preservation of Federal Hill and Fell's Point; and state Sen. Perry Sfikas of East Baltimore.
The Douglas H. Gordon Award for Preservation Advocacy will go to the developer Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse.
Johns Hopkins to dedicate nursing school's new home
The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing will dedicate its new home at 525 N. Wolfe St. in a ceremony at 3 p.m. today.
Designed by Ayers Saint Gross, the building is the first structure at Hopkins dedicated solely to nursing. It is named for a local philanthropist, Anne M. Pinkard.
Pub Date: 6/11/98