Image courtesy of The Maryland Theatre

Ring in the holidays with our final program of the year. On December 19, AIAPV’s Social Committee will host a series of events focused on urban revitalization in Hagerstown, running from 4:15 to 7:30 PM. This is a great opportunity to meet with municipal policymakers and learn more about Hagerstown’s ongoing revitalization of its city center, tour two unique and historic buildings, network with your AIAPV peers, and earn 3.0 HSW credits!

Image courtesy of The Maryland Theatre

We’ll start by meeting with senior Hagerstown officials, including the City Administrator, Director of Planning and Code Administration, Development Review Planner/Zoning Administrator, and Neighborhood Services Manager to discuss Hagerstown’s Community City Center Plan. This is a 10-year roadmap that includes eight catalyst projects (three completed and the other five pending) to promote growth and livability in the city’s core. As part of the Plan, the iconic Maryland Theatre was expanded and updated, and we’ll tour that facility and gain insights from lead designer Sue Hains of Grimm + Parker Architects.

AIAPV member Scott Bowen will then provide a tour of the brand-new office space for his firm, MSB Architects. Scott repurposed an iconic firehouse in Hagerstown’s city center, and will share the story of its evolution from firehouse to state-of-the-art architectural office space.

After the tours, we’ll hold a holiday reception at MSB’s office to kick off the holidays. Join us for this exciting, close-out event of 2019!

PARKING: There is nearby parking in the University District Parking Deck at 25 N. Potomac Street. City Hall is at the corner of Franklin and N. Potomac Street at 1 E. Franklin Street (door is on N. Potomac).; the large neo-classical building with clock tower. 

DIRECTIONS:  If you exit I-70 on US 40, you should head towards Hagerstown (west). You travel along US40 for a couple of miles on a dualized commercial/residential/commercial corridor which is called The Dual Highway. You know you are close when the golden arches are directly ahead. N. Cannon is the east edge of downtown. After you cross N. Cannon it will become obvious that the road name has changed to E. Franklin Street (still US40), you go 3 blocks and turn left at N. Potomac Street. There is a “P” for parking on the traffic light pole at N. Potomac. The parking deck is on the right side of N. Potomac in that block. There is a big projecting sign on the structure that is hard to miss at this time of year.

When leaving the parking deck, you head right (one way street) on N. Potomac and then take a left at the light in Public Square. You will then be on E. Washington Street (US40). You take that road all the way to I-70. Once out of the downtown, it becomes the Dual Highway.

Please note that raffic on I-270 North can be heavy in the afternoon, so please be sure to allow yourself sufficient time to drive to Hagerstown, park, and get to the meeting room.

Urban Revitalization: Hagerstown Discussion and Tours

Course Description:

Hagerstown, Maryland is following a 10-year roadmap to revitalize its downtown core and position itself for the future. Its Community City Center Plan promotes development and livability, creates public-private partnerships, and incorporates widespread community input. We will discuss the Plan with city officials and tour the historic Maryland Theatre whose expansion, just completed, is a key part of the Plan. We will also tour the new offices of MSB Architects, located in a repurposed, iconic downtown firehouse.

Learning Objectives

1. To provide architects and design professionals the opportunity to engage with city officials (including the City Administrator, as well as planning, code, zoning, and neighborhood services policymakers) about their approach to planning their community’s future. Attendees will learn the factors policymakers must weigh, as well as the role of architects in Hagerstown’s planning process. They will also learn how public-private partnerships can leverage existing resources to allow for financing of major projects, creating new opportunities for communities, and how that may affect the built environment.
2. Attendees will learn about the next catalyst projects in Hagerstown’s Community City Center Plan, including a hotel/conference center, heritage center and commemorative park to focus on the area’s civil war history, construction of a multi-use trail linking City Park with Public Square, and other projects that support the public art master plan for Hagerstown’s Cultural Trail, and about how these projects contribute to Hagerstown’s vision of a vibrant, inclusive, sustainable community.
3. Attendees will learn how a sensitively designed expansion of a historic facility (the Maryland Theatre) can contribute to the emotional, psychological, physical, and economic well-being of the surrounding community by creating new usable space and by fostering greater engagement on the part of students, artists, businesses, and the broader community.
4. By touring the new MSB office space, attendees will learn how the purpose and mission of an organization can be conveyed by sustainable design features that combine new and old elements. They will also learn the unique challenges of repurposing a historic structure from its original mission (firehouse) to its current one (architects’ office space), including how a firm’s work and employee health and well-being are affected by being in the midst of a renovation project.
5. Attendees will learn challenges and successful techniques for working with municipal authorities and community members in developing design concepts and completing construction as part of an overall roadmap for the municipality’s future.

3 LU/HSW

Special Thanks to our Social Event Annual Partner

Thanks also to Social Event Sponsor