Dozens of buildings from the mid-20th century along the Route 1 corridor identified as historically significant are at risk of being torn down or have already been demolished.
A countywide effort identified nearly 50 buildings from Brentwood to College Park, one of three main areas historians found in Prince George’s County that have notable examples of mid-century modern architecture.
These buildings often include futuristic Space Age stylings, a consumer aesthetic sometimes known as Populuxe and spare architectural designs using simple geometric shapes. They were popular along the Route 1 corridor because it was a fast-growing suburban area in the post-war era with a strong car culture.
Several of the buildings have already been torn down, including the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission headquarters, Kiplinger Editors Park, the old public library and the old municipal building in Hyattsville.
“Midcentury Modern buildings are among the most underappreciated and vulnerable aspects of Prince George’s County’s architectural heritage,” notes the 11-page report from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.
Still, some have been spared. The iconic saucer from the library was saved, the Lustine-Nicholson Chevrolet building was adapted into a community space for residents of Arts District Hyattsville, and the old Marché Florists building is now home to Pizzeria Paradiso and Art Works Now.
So far, only one has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places: a 1958 suburban house at 7300 Radcliffe Dr. in College Park with a design influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Other notable buildings include the Kenilworth 66 car repair shop at 4901 Kenilworth Ave., with its signature Phillips 66 butterfly roof; the Pepsi bottling plant near the intersection of Kenilworth and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway; the First United Methodist Church of Hyattsville; and even the MNCPPC headquarters.
Smaller examples include the Carroll House in Beltsville, the Arthur Lohrmann House in University Park, and the A.R. Keir commercial building at 3601 Hamilton St.
You can read the report here or see the list of notable buildings here.
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Thank you for highlighting this terrible trend, Allison. It’s so sad to see these well-designed and well-built buildings being torn down. New and bigger is not necessarily better.
The A.R. Keir building reminds me of the St. Hugh’s rectory on Crescent Road in Greenbelt. Some of the single-family homes on Lakeside Drive in Greenbelt also share this aesthetic. I don’t think any of them are endangered, though.
I hope our political leaders take note and save historical buildings. We can upgrade these buildings with green energy, electrify. Saves money as well as history.
It’s not on the Route 1 corridor, and I don’t guess it’s endangered, but I’d also nominate the office complex at the southeast corner of New Hampshire Ave. and Sheridan St. — sort of between Chillum and Takoma Park, just outside of the District.
https://goo.gl/maps/WLzopfYkW8h49nAR9
I’m sure this wasn’t always a bank building, but I haven’t lived around here long enough to know what it used to be — it kind of looks like a hospital building.