Dance Studio and Theatre Planned for Former Lord Baltimore Theatre
Southwest Partnership, the owner of the former Lord Baltimore Theater at 1110 W. Baltimore St. in Hollins Market/Poppleton, is planning to convert the 14,000 sq. ft. building into a dance studio and theatre.
Southwest Partnership, which is a nonprofit coalition of seven neighborhood associations and six anchor institutions in Southwest Baltimore, purchased the building, which sits on .32 acres, in April 2019 for $1,000,000. The organization has already done renovations to stabilize the building with new roof work, cleaned up environmental issues, and installed new flooring. The original theater seats had to be removed due to mold.
Tony Scott, executive director of Southwest Partnership, said they just received a grant to hire a consultant and that consultant is Carla Perlo, who co-founded Dance Place in Washington, D.C. Scott said Southwest Partnership is very excited to have her as part of the project.
Southwest Partnership worked with the community on a vision sessions and a space for the dance community was an expressed need. Scott noted this will be a space for professional dancing, including ballet and modern dance, and not a space for social dancing.
The plan is to redevelop the property in phases. Phase One is activating a vacant lot next to the building for outdoor programming. Scott said the space will be cleaned up, lighting will be added, and outdoor programming will be used to draw attention to the theatre. Scott said they hope to open this space next spring.
Phase Two will be renovating two storefronts at the front of the building on W. Baltimore St. Scott said Southwest Partnership has applied for a few different grants to renovate these spaces and hopes to have the project completed in in 2022 or 2023. He said one of the retail spaces could be for a dance studio, and another could be for a cafe that serves outside patrons and theatre guests.
Phase Three will be the renovation of the theatre.
“Baltimore needs a place for dance and the dance community,” said Scott. “So many people in the dance world are excited about this.”
The newly-renovated Hollins Market is at Carlton St., which creates a one-block pathway between Hollins Market and the Lord Baltimore Theater. Southwest Partnership hopes this will be a strong gateway between the two amenities.
Lord Baltimore Theater photos from 2019
About the Author: Kevin Lynch
Founder and Publisher of SouthBmore.com, longtime resident of South Baltimore, and a graduate of Towson University. Diehard Ravens and O's fan, father of three, amateur pizza chef, skateboarder, and "bar food" foodie. Email me at Kevin@InceptMM.com and follow me on Twitter at @SoBoKevin.
