Available downtown Hagerstown building puts imaginations to the test

What do you do with a former newspaper building ?

That's the question in Hagerstown as the state prepares to sell the former Herald-Mail building at 100 Summit Ave. downtown.

Why is the old Herald-Mail building being sold?

The building and its surrounding property, including a parking lot, were purchased to make way for an approximately $70 million baseball stadium at Baltimore Street and Summit Avenue. Other properties were purchased too, including a car wash, laundromat and county government building, all of which were torn down as construction proceeds on the Hagerstown Multi-Use Sports and Events Facility.

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It was unknown early on whether the newspaper building itself would have to be demolished. But Al Tyler, vice president of a capital projects group for the Maryland Stadium Authority, which is overseeing the stadium construction, said previously it was determined the building would not have to be torn down.

Tyler had anticipated the building would be put on the market this year. Now the building is being prepared for auction at noon Wednesday at the site.

To prepare, state officials last Wednesday offered an open house of the building to give prospective buyers a close-up look of the structure.

The open house attracted a relatively small group, made up of several Maryland State Highway Administration officials, a few curious Herald-Mail staffers, and others, including a group from Blackthorn Capital Partners.

Blackthorn is renovating what is known as the Updegraff building at 53 W. Washington St., across from University Plaza, for residential and commercial use.

What's it like on the inside the old newspaper building?

At times, the open house seemed to generate more questions than excitement.

Opened in 1979, the building was a modern design for the time, with large windows on the front that allowed motorists passing on Summit Avenue to see presses rolling at night. Angled windows on the roof produced natural light inside, and it was constructed to eventually enable solar panel installation (though no panels were ever installed).

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A few people in the open house pointed at large concrete beams that run through the top of the building inside.

"It's cool, but how do you reuse something like that?" one person said.

People pulled back carpeting, peered behind doors in equipment rooms in the basement and walked through the press room, which was redesigned as a venue for events like weddings and receptions.

Dwayne Kershner, a state highway administration supervisor who helped lead a tour through the building, stood with others in a massive newspaper distribution area in the basement. He suggested that the building would be a good place for a brewery.

"It would be," one man said, "but it would be a pretty massive brewery."

Needs a lot of 'due diligence'

Hank Brown, part of the Blackthorn Capital Partners group, was among the people coming away with a quizzical look.

Brown said parts of the building's construction presents challenges. And he said it's estimated 53,000 square feet of space would be overkill for any type of retail operation right now in Hagerstown.

"It's something that needs a lot of due diligence," said Brown.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Maryland set to auction former Herald-Mail building next week