Friday, April 30, 2010

Away goes the old roof

And off goes the old roof.  Installation of the structural insulated panels (SIPs) gets underway shortly.  The first photo is looking toward the southeast from the new E. All Saints St. parking garage.  A portion of the old roof is being lifted off of the building. The new Board of Education office building is seen beyond the Visitor Center site. The second photo is looking toward the northwest from East Street, facing the future front entrance of the Visitor Center. The heavy timber roof trusses remain, and the SIP panels will span them.  The foundation for the entrance vestibule is also visible.  The area in the foreground will be a pedestrian plaza leading from a motorcoach pull-off along S. East St.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Roof demolition begins

The contractor, Rockwell Construction, begins work on removing the old roof.  Originally a slate roof sheltered the building.  The most recent roof is metal.  The metal roof, rafters and purlins will be removed.  Structural Insulated Panels (SIP's) will be installed across the original heavy timber trusses over the next couple of weeks providing the new roof structure and adding energy efficiency to the building.  The SIP panels will be covered by a new standing seam metal roof.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Restroom Walls

The walls for the restrooms are being framed up.  Always a popular stop at information centers, these facilities are sized to better accommodate tour groups arriving by motorcoach.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Opening up the windows

Most of the building's windows had been bricked up at some point during the 20th century, as shown in the "before" picture.  Masons have been working to reopen the window openings, and are also making necessary repairs and cleaning up the old brick walls.  They'll also close in some openings that were added during the life of the building, such as the metal roll-up door on the Commerce Street side (which turned out to be pretty handy for allowing trucks with gravel and concrete access to the interior).

As shown in the second picture, the last of the infill brick is being removed from the windows facing East St. from the exhibit area.  Portions of the interior of the building will feature exposed brick walls. A slight ramp seen in the foreground will lead from the front of the theater up into the exhibit area, along the north wall of the building.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Slab Floor for Theater

Nearing completion of the floor slab. Workers pour and finish concrete in the area of the building that will contain a multi-screen orientation video theater. A portion of this floor will be sloped with fixed theater seating, following the building plans developed by the project architects, Proffitt & Associates of Frederick, working with Tourism Council of Frederick County committees and staff.

History of the Project

The Tourism Council of Frederick County began searching in early 2000 for a site along the proposed extension of East Street in Frederick to a planned new interchange on I-70. This was at about the time that the MD State Highway Administration developed the plans for the new interchange, with a bridge over I-70 connecting to an extension of MD85. The Tourism Council recognized the significance of this future improvement to downtown Frederick access, creating a new gateway to Frederick's historic area, one of the top visitor destinations in this region of the State. Likewise, the proposed improvements will provide more convenient connections among the highways that feed into Frederick from all directions.

A visitor center along this new access road would meet long-term goals of the organization to achieve better visibility of the visitor information center by motorists shortly after they exit the highway.

The Tourism Council has also long desired to have more space in which to serve visitors with the opportunity to show an orientation film; to present exhibits and displays in addition to the standard offerings of brochures and maps; to better accommodate group tours by providing more adequate restroom facilities than previously available; and to have room for a group to gather indoors while reassembling before reboarding a motor coach. The goal was to have a facility that could serve as the tourist information center about local, regional and Statewide offerings of interest to visitors, including displays, maps and guides for initiatives such as the Historic National Road, Journey THrough Hallowed Ground /Catoctin Mountain National Scenic Byway, other State Scenic Byways, and Maryland Civil War Trails, in addition to serving as the local visitor center for the City of Frederick, Frederick County, and surrounding region.

Likewise the site is centrally located in the three-county Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area, and will serve travelers interested in following two of Maryland's Civil War Trail driving tours which pass through downtown Frederick. As envisioned, the center will cross-promote these assorted programs to visitors who arrive because of their interest in any one aspect of the area.

After identifying the above goals, the Tourism Council Board of Directors evaluated a number of potential sites along the proposed East Street extension. Criteria that were important to the Board included:
  • A site directly on the East Street extension for maximum visibility to motorists exiting from either direction of I-70/US40 at the new interchange, or reaching this key interchange via MD 85, MD 355 or I-270.
     
  • A site that was within easy walking distance of downtown Frederick.
     
  • A site that was close to the new MARC rail passenger station in downtown Frederick, which also houses the Greyhound/Trailways bus terminal and serves as a hub for Frederick County TransIt operation.
     
  • Ideally in an historic structure to complement Frederick's historic district and the heritage of the region.
After examining the potentially available properties in the desired area, the Tourism Council Board chose the warehouse building. The building was vacant. It was on the former Monocacy Valley Canning Company site that had been purchased by the City of Frederick in order to acquire right-of-way for the East Street extension.

The Tourism Council offered to purchase the site from the City of Frederick. The City agreed to sell the site to the organization at an attractive price, in spite of the strong demand for the City-owned sites along the Carroll Creek flood control/park project and the East Street extension alignment. Settlement occurred in December 2005.

Details - Part 2

The information and display area will be laid out like spokes on a wheel. This arrangement will not only evoke the site's early industrial heritage which will be interpreted at the facility, it also facilitates a geographic representation of the many Scenic Byways and heritage routes that converge at Frederick, like spokes, plus the surrounding communities and attractions.

The spokes will provide the opportunity for exhibits and displays interpreting and providing tourist information, brochures, maps, etc. to motorists traveling these routes, or intercepting them as they arrive in Frederick. As a hub of these byways, heritage routes and driving tours, the proposed center will benefit all of these initiatives through cross-promotion. A motorist traveling one scenic byway route, for example, will not only become aware of all that there is to see and do along the way, they will also learn about the other routes that intersect in Frederick. A family looking for a specific map-guide for the Historic National Road, the Catoctin Mountain National Scenic Byway, the C & O Canal Route, Old Main Streets State Scenic Byway, or Maryland Civil War Trails because they've seen the trailblazer signs or saw these routes advertised, will learn about the others. In particular, the center is situated in an ideal location to provide tourist information about the Historic National Road to motorists traveling along this All American Road, or to those intercepting it having arrived from a different direction, such as from Washington, D.C. or Gettysburg, PA.

Details - Part 1



This project will rehabilitate the vacant historic warehouse and outfit it as a visitor information center providing information about scenic byways and other tourism offerings to the customers. The project includes rehabilitation of the structure and renovation of the interior to serve the proposed new use. The construction of the building consists of load-bearing brick masonry walls with timber trusses. The entire building structure is supported by stone foundation walls. Most of the original window openings had been in-filled with brick.

Exterior work includes repairing and re-pointing the brick walls, installing 13 new windows centered between the pilasters as the original openings had been, creating a prominent main entry facing S. East Street in accordance with the City of Frederick's Carroll Creek Overlay District guidelines, and installing a new metal roof. All interior and exterior walls have cracking around existing timber headers. These headers will be replaced with new headers. Areas of the foundation that were removed for modern openings for garage doors or ductwork, or which were embedded in concrete, will be replaced or repaired.
Other structural work entails making repairs to cracks in some of the members of the original wood trusses, using lag bolts or wood structural repair epoxy. The water-damaged rafters and roof sheathing planks will be removed and new structural insulated panel roofing will be installed directly on the existing trusses. The trusses will be cleaned and refinished as they will be exposed over the display and exhibit area of the visitor center. Ceilings and attic flooring will be removed to architecturally expose and articulate the roof trusses of the building.

In addition to the exposed wood trusses, the proposed adaptive reuse of the interior calls for cleaning, repairing and exposing the interiors of the brick walls of the structure, including one that is interior where the legs of the "L" meet. This interior brick wall has existing openings, three of which will be used as doorways for the facility's restrooms and for the office area for the Tourism Council of Frederick County that will operate and market the center.

Location and Linkages

The brick structure was built on the site of the Frederick Spoke Factory at the end of the 19th century, just as the spoke manufacturing facility was ceasing operation and the Monocacy Valley Canning Company was being established on the property. For most of its existence the structure served as a warehouse for the packing company, being accessed by Commerce Street in Frederick and by the B & O Railroad. Today the structure fronts on the extension of East Street in Frederick being linking downtown Frederick, including the MARC commuter rail station across East Street from the project site, to the new interchange at I-70/US 40 just south of the Frederick Towne Historic District. The site is on the section of South East Street that serves as a segment of the eastbound route of the Historic National Road (HNR), designated by the Federal Highway Administration as an All American Road in the National Scenic Byways program. This portion of South East Street connects the eastbound HNR byway, which follows South Street in Frederick parallel to the downtown portion of Patrick Street (which carries HNR traffic one-way westbound), back with East Patrick Street at the point where two-way traffic resumes at the eastern edge of the Frederick Towne Historic District.


View Frederick Visitor Center in a larger map

The site capitalizes on Frederick's location at the hub of a network of highways that fan out like the spokes of a wheel, including the other National Scenic Byway that passes through Frederick - the Catoctin Mountain Highway (US15), which is part of a larger heritage corridor dubbed the Journey Through Hallowed Ground extending from Gettysburg, PA to Charlottesville, VA; and the Old Main Streets State Scenic Byway. Through these byways the center is linked to the C & O Canal Route, the Catoctin Mountain Loop, and the Atlantic to Appalachians State Scenic Byways.

Through these routes, access is provided to a great range of historic, cultural and natural resources, including State and National parks, battlefields, and more. Two of Maryland’s Civil War Trails, the Antietam Campaign – Lee Invades Maryland and Gettysburg – Invasion & Retreat (Union Advance) driving tours pass through Downtown Frederick and connect the area of the project site with battlefields, museums and other heritage area attractions throughout Frederick, Carroll and Washington counties as well as sites in the Montgomery Heritage Area. Visitors to the center will be able to obtain information about these Trails and sites, whether they intend to follow the Antietam Campaign Trail west into Washington County, or follow the Union advance route during the Gettysburg Campaign northeast into Carroll County. The project site is central to the three-county Heart of the Civil War Maryland Heritage Area (and well positioned to serve the four-state Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area).  The center will also provide information related to nearby Maryland Main Street program communities of Brunswick, Middletown, Mount Airy, Thurmont and Downtown Frederick; the Monocacy River Water Trails that are part of the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network; the State-designated Arts & Entertainment District in Frederick; and regional parks and attractions.  The center will serve as the local visitor center for the City of Frederick and Frederick County, and house the offices of the Tourism Council of Frederick County that will relocate from the current location at 19 E. Church Street in Frederick to operate, market and manage the facility.

The project will provide interpretation relevant to the industrial heritage of the site and historic transportation networks.  For example, the historic use of the site marked the point where, for decades, local agricultural produce was brought in by wagon along the National Road, packed and shipped out by railroad or truck.  Adjacent canneries, tanneries, a stockyard, coal yards, shutter fastener manufacturing, and the Frederick Brick Works made up this industrial neighborhood just south of the Historic National Road along Carroll Creek and the B & O Railroad.  The project site’s 19th-century heritage as home of a spoke factory, coupled with Frederick’s location as the hub from which regional Scenic Byways and other heritage tourism routes emerge like spokes on a wheel, inspired the design and organizational framework for the proposed informational exhibits and displays that will be the focal point of the project.

As indicated, the warehouse is located across the street from the Downtown Frederick MARC rail passenger station. The extension of East Street to the new I-70/US40 interchange provides a direct connection from the interstate to the MARC station and to Frederick's Historic District. Frederick County TransIt Services utilize the MARC station as a hub for bus and van routes servicing other areas of Frederick City and County. By locating the proposed tourist center across the street from this transportation center visitors are provided with several options for intermodal connections. The extension of East Street to I-70/US40 also accesses the Carroll Creek project, a cooperative flood control/linear park project funded by City, County and State governments, which is serving as a catalyst for new economic development in Downtown Frederick. Establishing a tourist center at this location will help maximize the return on the sizeable investment by the State and local governments in this initiative. A motorcoach loading/unloading area will be provided along East Street at the entrance to the center.

Project Overview

After thirty years of operating the Frederick Center at in Frederick, the Tourism Council of Frederick County determined in 2005 that future visitors to the City of would be better served at another location. Road changes that were then getting underway suggested that arriving visitors would be best assisted at a center located along the extension of S. East Street in Frederick to a new I-70 interchange, creating a new gateway to Downtown Frederick at a location central to the network of highways to other destinations in the county.

Preliminary analysis indicated that the preferred location would be along East Street between E. South Street and E. Patrick Street. A new Center could provide amenities not currently available, ranging from simply having more adequate restroom facilities to exhibits and orientation film viewing areas. The center would ideally also house the Tourism Council offices, with a combined floor area of 6,000 to 6,500 square feet for the visitor service area and offices. In late 2005 the Tourism Council identified and purchased a circa-1899 industrial warehouse to be converted into a new visitor information center, along the new "gateway" and within the corridor through Frederick. The project is scheduled for completion early 2011.