To some, it was an architectural gem. To others, it was a graffiti-covered eyesore.
In just a few days, it is going to be rubble, after a wrecking crew this week started tearing down the Sixties-era KAGRO building to make way for a brief Ynot Lot within the Station North Arts District.
MCB Real Estate, the property proprietor, is working with the Central Baltimore Partnership to clear the positioning at 101 West North Avenue to make way for redevelopment. MCB’s lengthy vary plans name for a brand new building on the nook, however the scope of the challenge has not been disclosed. In the meantime, the proprietor is making the land out there for use as the world’s non permanent new Ynot Lot, to exchange an out of doors occasions venue on the northwest nook of Charles Street and North Avenue.
The building that’s present process demolition opened in 1961 as a department of Maryland National Bank, one of many first examples of Modern structure on North Avenue. From 1995 to 2015, it housed the Korean-American Grocers & Licensed Beverage Association of Maryland and was often called the KAGRO Building. In 2015, it was the setting for “Bubble Over Green,” an artwork exhibit that confirmed the building’s potential for reuse as an artwork gallery. Since then, it has been vacant, boarded up and perennially lined with graffiti.
According to the Central Baltimore Partnership, a brand new out of doors occasions house is required as a result of the proprietor of the Charles Street lot determined not to renew its lease for that use. A crew led by Potts & Callahan has began tearing down the KAGRO building from the south, a aspect not seen from North Avenue. According to a discover that was posted on the building in January, demolition exercise is predicted to proceed till the top of this month.
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