Sustainable Preservation: The Adaptive Reuse of Historic Industrial Buildings and Spaces in Baltimore City, 1970-2020

Abstract

This thesis demonstrates that the preservation and adaptive reuse of historic industrial buildings and spaces in Baltimore City from 1970 to 2020, reflects a citywide effort to reinvent the image of Baltimore in the wake of deindustrialization. To do so, it assesses and compares completed and proposed projects across the city; specifically, the Pratt Street Power Plant at the heart of the Inner Harbor, the Meadow Mill in Woodberry, and the Hendler Creamery in Jonestown. This topic is significant because it recognizes Baltimore’s legacy as a historic city that has both inadvertently and consciously became a world leader in cultural and heritage preservation. Despite the successes of the late twentieth century, this thesis argues that Baltimore City officials failed to maintain a commitment to the preservation of the city’s historic industrial character, instead enabling developers to dictate the trajectory of preservation in the twenty-first century.