Baltimore’s landmark “green church” in Mount Vernon — known for its olive-tinted, serpentine facade — will reopen to the public Thursday in a new role, hosting a concert and pop-up bookstore.
The 1872 Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church and the adjoining Asbury House, most recently used as a church rectory and offices, were sold in two transactions totaling $600,000 on July 10, according to Stephen Ferrante, the broker who handled the sale for PraiseBuildings, a company that sells religious properties.
The church was sold to a newly formed nonprofit, Unite Mount Vernon, while preservationist Elizabeth Bonner, a nonprofit board member, purchased Asbury House, Ferrante said.
“I think this is going to be a great thing for Baltimore,” Ferrante said. “Unite Baltimore is hoping to get the Peabody Conservatory and other neighbors involved in making use of the building. If they put enough money into restoring it, it could become a really vibrant part of the Mount Vernon neighborhood.”
Plans call for a multifunctional building with an emphasis on public events and commercial uses, according to Preservation Maryland, a nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing the state’s historic sites.
The first public events in the church’s new role will be its collaboration with the Ivy Bookshop, which will operate a pop-up holiday store open from noon to 6 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays through Christmas Eve, according to a news release.
In addition, a historic walking tour of Mount Vernon will depart from the church at 3:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon, while in the evening, choral music performed by The New Choir of Mt. Vernon will fill the sanctuary. Tickets for the walking tour cost $28.52 including fees and can be reserved at eventbrite.com.
Two weeks later, the Ivy will host a free community concert at 7 p.m. Dec. 18 featuring the Grammy award-winning composer and vocalist Clayton Bryant, who has worked with such headliners as Billy Joel, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder and Elton John.
“At The Ivy, we conceive of retail as installation art and bookstores as collaborative experiments in social fabric,” bookshop owner Emma Snyder wrote in a release. “The opportunity to move on-site at this iconic building in the heart of our city and to use books as a means of inviting people inside this stunning space to dream about its future, is thrilling.”
The church will also continue to provide space for its existing Methodist congregation to worship, the preservation group wrote.
Like many aging U.S. churches with dwindling congregations, the imposing Norman-Gothic church at 2-8 E. Mount Vernon Place has been through its share of ups and downs. Ferrante said that the main sanctuary has been largely unused for at least eight years, since a two-foot piece of plaster became wet, fell off the cornice and demolished the pew directly beneath it.
He said that a structural engineer later determined that the problem was isolated to that one spot, and that the church does not present a safety danger.
In 2020, a New Jersey developer planned to buy the church, but to separate it from Asbury House so both properties could be sold separately. The subdivision plan was approved by Baltimore’s planning commission over the fierce opposition of community members and local preservation advocates.
The following year, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jeannie J. Hong reversed that decision, and the church and Asbury Place went back on the market.
The recent purchase represents “a major step toward reactivating this anchor of the Mount Vernon neighborhood,” Jack Danna, chairman of the board of Unite Mount Vernon, said in the Preservation Maryland release.
“We look forward to working with the community, residents, foundations, businesses, and public partners to chart the next chapter in this architectural wonder’s story.”
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