Dear Genesee Brewery: Inspiration From Baltimore

This article was scraped from Rochester Subway. This is a blog about Rochester history and urbanism has not been published since 2017. The current owners are now publishing link spam which made me want to preserve this history.. The original article was published November 09, 2011 and can be found here.

   RochesterSubway.com will be 3 years old this January and recently it welcomed it's 100,000th visitor. While the bulk of this web traffic is local, the website gets a fair amount of visits from every corner of the country. And those visitors are very important. Case in point, Norm from Baltimore, Maryland. Norm read our     story about Genesee Brewery    wanting to demolish the old Standard Brewing Company Building and he sent us some inspiration from his home town...

The American Brewing Building...

Built in 1887 by John Frederick Wiessner, a German immigrant, the American Brewery in East Baltimore was one of the largest breweries in the state of Maryland. At its peak, the brewery employed 61 workers; 16 in brewery work, 17 drivers, 14 bottling house, 8 garage men, and 6 office workers. The central tower of the building housed a 10,000 bushel grain elevator. Prohibition forced the shut down of the facility in 1920. The Weissner family sold the brewery to the American Malt Company in 1931, who modernized the interior equipment and operated the brewery until 1973.

   The neighborhood around the brewery building has long been in decline and has been largely forgotten by politicians and the media during the later half of the 20th century. Once a vibrant area, about half of the homes and other buildings in the area have been demolished or are vacant. Basic services such as grocery stores and restaurants have disappeared as well. In 2006, the City of Baltimore moved to acquire 200 abandoned properties in the area for future demolition or rehabilitation.

   Since then, a non-profit group called     Humanin Inc.

has     redeveloped

the Brewhouse building and bottling plant into a social and human services center and a new Baltimore headquarters for Humanin Inc.

Humanim secured $22.5 million with loans and "sustainable neighborhoods" grants for renovations of the complex. The work is now complete, the building looks better than ever, and Humanim encourages the public to come visit and see this beautiful historic building.

   The rehabilitation of the American Brewery may serve as an impetus for further investment in the East Baltimore neighborhood. Due to its central location in a struggling neighbhorhood, interior space, and architectural quality, the brewery is seen by urban planners as an anchor for future community and economic development initiatives in the area. It is hoped that new employment and social services will attract additional investors, improving the quality of life for current and future residents.

Take notes Rochester. And thank you, Norm from Baltimore!

How You Can Help:

Plan to attend and speak at the Zoning Board's meeting on Thursday, December 15, 2011. The start time for the Public Hearing is 9:30 AM in City Council Chambers, Room 302A, City Hall, 30 Church Street. Cases 1-5 will be heard beginning at 9:30 AM. The Genesee Brewery Application is Case #5 and will begin at 11:30 AM.

Share this event on Facebook    .

Please sign the     petition

, which was started by fellow blogger     Christopher Schiffner

, so we can let them know we'd like our history preserved...

See also:
    Genesee Brewery to Demolish This Building
    Dear Genesee Brewery: Inspiration From Baltimore
    Brewery Unveils Official Plan
    Help Save Brewing Landmark
    Imagine, Rochester's Historic Brewery Square
    Landmark Society Urges Brewery to Rethink Demolition
    Prohibition in Rochester