Depot Should be Renaissance Area, Group SaysJames Mosher The Daily Record 04/26/05 The GSA Depot, a former aircraft factory due to go up for sale in a few weeks, should be made part of a “renaissance opportunity district,” a citizens group says. Shawn T. Meyer, president of the Essex-Middle River Renaissance Corp., is urging the classification in a letter to Baltimore County Council Chairman Joseph Bartenfelder. The councilman’s 6th District includes the 1.9 million-square-foot building on Eastern Avenue in Middle River. The County Council April 18 approved three more renaissance areas, adding neighborhoods in Dundalk and Essex-Middle River to five others eligible for redevelopment under a pilot program backed by County Executive James T. Smith Jr. and most on the County Council. The program features community meetings and week-long design sessions. Smith declined to act on a renaissance corporation suggestion the county buy the Depot, once part of the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Co. and now used as a data processing and storage center by the U.S. armed forces. Bartenfelder also said a county purchase wasn’t necessary in order to achieve a mixed-use development that would please most of the public. Inclusion of the Depot in a renaissance area would have to be supported by Bartenfelder and approved by a majority vote of the council. Meyer said he was mailing the letter Friday. Lea Petr, an aide to Bartenfelder, said the councilman hadn’t received the letter as of press time yesterday (Monday). The Depot’s owner, the U.S. General Services Administration, plans on taking bids and a sale may come as early as summer. The building is one of the largest in Baltimore County.
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