Strawbridge

Update #14 on Strawbridge:
Drywall is hung and finished in the basement, will resume hanging in the social hall and sanctuary next week. Extensive plaster repair work begins in the sanctuary next week. Cabinets and trim will arrive in November for installation. Painting is scheduled to begin at the end of November.

We will likely need to block a section of Jenkins Alley for a few hours in November in order to lift structural steel and HVAC units to the roof of the Carriage House. The date will be posted on this page when it's scheduled.

The fire sprinkler system has passed inspection and we can now close in. If you ever end up installing sprinklers in a 19th century church, you are always welcome to join our support group.
After a framing inspection we will start insulation and drywall. We took the opportunity to add some pendant lighting in the sanctuary and entry lobbies. There is rough in for new photovoltaic lights above each entry door and in the courtyard. We will retrofit existing fixtures wherever possible. Some accent track lights will add warmth and texture to stone walls. Electric rough-in inspection for sanctuary will be next week.

In appreciation of Baltimore's Charles Carson. On this day in 1886, Joel Gutman opened the very first department store "palace" on Eutaw Street. The architect, Charles Carson, had just overseen the completion of the Strawbridge church 5 years earlier.

"Architect Charles Carson's handsome 75-foot Rennaissance Revival facade was difficult to miss; its two-story plate glass shop windows alone overshadowed nearby storefronts. Shoppers and curiosity seekers crowded the wide granite sidewalks before passing through an enormous arcade entrance, pausing only to admire the mosaic flooring and "antique" vestibule lamp.

Inside, Baltimoreans discovered a spacious skylit interior of polished cherry, quartered oak, and ornamental metalwork. The main floor, rising two full stories, was divided by two rows of cast iron columns that extended almost to the rear of the 115' deep store. Towering oak cabinets offered a seemingly endless variety of fashionable goods which lined the outside walls and center aisles." Source: Enterprising Emporiums: The Jewish Department Stores of Downtown Baltimore.

Good afternoon, here is your eighth update on 201 Wilson Street.
Utility work is now complete, window wells are dug out and ready for concrete work. We have finished framing the carriage house and the carriage house roof will start tomorrow. The rest of the slate roofing and copper valleys is finished except for two valleys that need extensive repair.
Structural steel in the social hall to be set next week. Framing in the basement and social hall will begin in early August. We are now "out of the ground" and the next stage of construction will move more quickly.

Please keep in mind that utility work will begin on Wilson Street and Jenkins Alley on Monday 7/11. Wilson Street will be temporarily closed to traffic from Bolton to Park starting that morning.
Have a great weekend!