A member of a group that advocates for a new Towson High School building by 2022 met with county officials in March to explore the possibility of taking the historic stone building off the county’s landmarks list.
The meeting was announced on the Facebook page for “New in ’22,” a group formed three years ago to push for a new 1,800-seat building rather than renovate the aging and overcrowded Towson school.
Towson resident Steve Prumo, a New in ’22 founding member, wrote in the Facebook post that removing landmark status would allow the school system to make changes to the building, or remove it, without the approval of the county’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. He wrote that building a new facility to fit the growing student body would be cheaper and easier.
“Delisting would give the project maximum flexibility both from an architectural standpoint and a financial standpoint,” Prumo wrote in the post.
“I feel more of an allegiance to the kids that are going to go there, and I feel more of an allegiance to their future, than I do to the current structure,” Prumo said Wednesday.The meeting Prumo referenced on Facebook included county Historic Preservation Planner Teri Rising, as well as County Executive Kevin Kamenetz’s chief of staff Don Mohler, said county spokeswoman Ellen Kobler, who characterized the meeting as “purely informational.”
The original 5-level stone structure of the school was built in 1949 and was designated in 2006 a landmark by the Baltimore County Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Read full article: Advocates for a ‘New in ’22’ Towson High explore delisting its landmark status – Baltimore Sun
