A Hyattsville nonprofit is surveying historic buildings along the Route 1 corridor from Baltimore to the D.C. border to help save them.
The Anacostia Trails Heritage Area is hiring an architect to develop the survey, which will highlight the retro buildings typically referred to as 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.
Dozens of these buildings have been torn down already, although the iconic saucer from the library, the Lustine-Nicholson Chevrolet building and the old Marché Florists building are some local success stories.
The $17,000 survey will determine which remaining buildings are notable in order to help develop plans to protect them and find new uses.
Apart from the mid-century buildings, the survey will also look for notable architecture from the colonial era, the early railroad, the introduction of the streetcar and the development of the Beltway.
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There was a related article back in May – I mentioned then, and will again now, that the Bank of America complex at New Hampshire Ave. and Sheridan St. is worth a mention. Presumably it was not always a Bank of America and looks like it could have been a hospital. But it may be outside the scope of the survey area.