Maryland’s Historic Districts, Fall 2015, now available

In this edition:

Every so often free speech challenges to historic preservation ordinances arise, especially when dealing with the regulation of signs, news racks, and artwork. While the ability to review signage is well established and generally accepted, the regulation of art work can seem like somewhat of a gray area.

Many of Maryland’s historic districts address art in their guidelines to varying degrees. The Annapolis Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) does not have specific criteria but relies on the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards.  They review all art for its location and method of installation and limit the review of content for purposes of historical accuracy. Public art, specifically, is also reviewed by the Art in Public Places Committee appointed by the Mayor. The Annapolis HPC’s ability to review art is currently being challenged as a result of a mural that was painted over a June weekend without approval from the commission. Continue reading.

In the summer of 2015, the Historic Preservation Section of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) initiated an ambitious project to survey and document all existing historical and cultural resources associated with President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal from 1933-42. Most Marylanders, if not many students of twentieth-century history, are aware of “Alphabet Agencies” and stories of the planned community at Greenbelt and perhaps even the development of the vast Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. This survey project underway by M-NCPPC seeks to expand public awareness and historical visibility of the remaining federally-funded buildings in Prince George’s County. ”Some people think history stands still but forget that as we move forward with time, so does history,” says Prince George’s Historic Preservation Commission Chairman John Peter Thompson, “The mid twentieth-century has rather suddenly become no longer the present but the important immediate past.” Continue reading.

Plus:

• 2015 Annual Report
• News from the commissions
• Photos from the Crab Feast