Remington August 2019

Former Parts & Labor Building Planning Tire Shop Pop-ups

Before P&L, there was J&L.  Author Photo.

August 9, 2019.  The former Parts & Labor space will host one-day pop-ups highlighting local food and drink through September. A part of "Seawall World", along with the R. House and Remington Row, the old Jeff & Lynne's Tire Shop has been vacant since  Spike moved back to Hampden.  Seawall has heard from community members (that means GRIA) who want to see the space in use, so we get

"We heard that people would love to see that space activated and put to use by other great
Baltimore makers and chefs," she said.

In the longer term, Seawall is working to identify a new tenant for the 11,000-square-foot

P&L when it was first open for business.  Author Photo.

space, Marshall said. Local theater company ArtsCentric recently announced it will be moving
into a 3,000-square-foot space next door that used to be occupied by Single Carrot Theatre.

The pop-up series will run at least into September, according to Marshall. More chefs and drink
providers will be announced on social media in the coming weeks.

Admission to Saturday's event is free, and visitors can choose from a menu that includes
brisket, ribs and pork belly burnt ends "al pastor," as well as sides like Mexican street corn, cole
slaw and Texas red rice, as well as bergamot pound cake, peach pie and a banana cream pie
soft-serve sundae for dessert.

Source: Amanda Yeager, Baltimore Business Journal

Agora Plans Evolving

August 23, 2019.  The many coddled Johns Hopkins students will soon have new buildings to overindulge. They will be able to have their coffee in “The Factory” and listen to open-air concerts beneath the “Conversation Cube”.  Conversation Cube?  I thought that was the shuttle bus.

The Renzo Piano Building Workshop rendering

Those are nicknames for parts of the one-of-a-kind institute targeted for completion in 2022. The formal name is Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute, an interdisciplinary center.  I'm just going to call it "The Factory." The institute was announced in 2017 after the Stavros Niarchos Foundation committed $150 million to launch an effort with Hopkins to build and staff an academic forum dedicated to “strengthening democracy by improving civic engagement and civil discourse worldwide.” One of its goals is to reinvent the ancient Greek agora, (that's a public gathering place, in case you failed Greek).

Proposed Model

Hopkins hired The Renzo Piano Building Workshop, the architect behind high-profile projects such as the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and the Shard skyscraper in London. Hopkins is moving quickly to build the institute’s permanent home.  JHU has not yet received a construction permit from the city, but that's never stopped them before.  Baltimore gives the University carte blanche most of the time anyway.

The building is to be erected on the parking lot next to the Marine Hospital that Hopkins now calls the Administration Building.  It will be comprised of two main sections largely clad in glass: an area to the north for public meetings, conferences and events, dubbed the “Conversation Cube,” and an academic structure to the south with classrooms, labs and faculty offices, dubbed “The Factory.” The two main sections will be separated by a circulation space.

Ayers Saint Gross, Architects

“The Factory” will have six levels and a café at the base, with tables and chairs on a terrace overlooking a garden, while the “Conversation Cube” will be one flexible space, two stories high, and will appear to float above the ground. Beneath the Cube will be a 25-foot-high area that will remain open to the elements and available for a wide range of gatherings, from convocations to concerts by Peabody Institute students. According to Elizabeth Smyth, advisor to JHU president Ron Daniels, the intent is to create a place that is welcoming and inviting, not imposing.  Sure, a six-story glass building isn't "imposing."

In addition to the Agora Institute, Hopkins is planning to upgrade the old Marine Hospital for use as academic space and faculty offices for Hopkins and build a $100 million student center near Charles Street, most likely in place of the Mattin Center. An architect has not been selected for that project.

Assuming permits can be obtained in time, Hopkins hopes to start construction on the Agora Institute next summer

Sources:  Ed Gunts, Baltimore Business Journal; The Hub (https://hub.jhu.edu)


Greedy Reads

Greedy Reads, Fell's Point

August 23, 2109.  Fell's Point bookstore Greedy Reads is opening a new location across from the R. House in the defunct and overpriced bicycle shop portion of 320 W.  29th Street.  They hope to open “sometime before the holidays,” according to the post on Facebook.

The owner, Julia Fleischaker, is a former director of marketing and publicity at Melville House and publicity director at Penguin Group, believes Remington to be "a vibrant community." (She is a native of Montgomery County, so it may take a while for reality to sink in).

320 W. 29th Street location

While continuing to operate the Fell's Point location, Greedy Reads will have a new roster of programming for the Remington location. The store will stock new releases, a selection of older titles and classics, and gifts and magazines. Bookstore dog Audie will retain her title of director of marketing and split her time between the two stores. Fleischaker welcomes ideas from the community. Everybody play nice.

Source:  Christine Condon, Baltimore Business Journal