How a one-time Bolton Hill church is being preserved as nine apartments

Neighbors of an 1881 Bolton Hill church might wonder why it’s taken more than three years to preserve this landmark.

The former Strawbridge United Methodist Church, at Park Avenue and Wilson Street, is now in its fourth year of becoming nine apartments.

The adjoining parsonage is now two apartments and that conversion was a snap compared to what it’s taken to retrofit the main church, its steeple and set of bronze bells.

Situated on the section of Park Avenue that opens up as a tree-lined boulevard, Strawbridge is part of a pleasing architectural composition.

There is also plenty of church history here. Thomas O’Neill, the department store owner who left his considerable fortune to build the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, lived across the street.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the old Cornerstone Baptist Church (built as Har Sinai Temple) immediately west of the Strawbridge property on Bolton Street. (This house of worship burned down and is now a park.)

Less than a block away is the old Society of Friends School, also repurposed as apartments. Not so far away are other congregations — Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian, Memorial Episcopal Church, Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church and the old Bolton Street Synagogue.

Developer Dan Kamenetz, a nephew of the late Baltimore County executive Kevin Kamenetz, first worshipped in nearby Reservoir Hill at the Beth Am congregation. He was fascinated by the sweeping tiled ceiling and interior.

He earns a living renovating old structures but clearly loves the beauty of the ecclesiastical spaces — the soaring ceilings, old timbers and the stained glass windows.

His firm, American Realty, is a family business. He works with his brother, Jonathan, and their father, Gregory.

The firm owns two churches. One functions — it’s the old Homestead United Methodist Church at Gorsuch and Kirk avenues in Northeast Baltimore. He rents it to two congregations, one that worships on Saturday and the other on Sunday.

“The Methodist Church had a saying in the 1880s that it was putting up two churches a day,” said Kamenetz. “There are plenty in Baltimore. Strawbridge was a project of John Franklin Goucher, who was foundational in forming many Baltimore churches. And, of course, the college is named after him.”

He bought the Strawbridge church at auction in July 2015 for $50,000.

It took several years to stabilize the structure. “It was going to collapse,” Kamenetz said. “We went through the rezoning with our Bolton Hill neighbors and applied for historic tax credits. I wanted to save the building but I didn’t know what the new use would be. The neighbors did not want a restaurant or office space.”

The church hadn’t been used in years. A tree found a way to thrive inside the nave. The first floor partially collapsed because the roof had leaked and ruined the oak floors. The structural trusses shattered and required an emergency $100,000 in repairs.

Because Kamenetz received $588,500 in state and federal historic tax credits he is required to preserve and restore the facade. This translated into an expensive slate roofing repair bill and a sprinkler system that was not cheap.

Kamenetz said the tax credits prohibited carving up the main worship space for apartments.

“Although we never had an intention of carving up the space,” he said.

It, with its geometric pattern windows of deep cobalt blue and ruby red, is planned as a community space. An 1881 Sun article said an anonymous donor “… has given $1,000 toward the handsome stained-glass windows which are to adorn the edifice.”

Will the old nave become an art gallery? A wedding venue? A small performing arts space?

With its trussed timber ceiling and natural acoustics, anything is possible.

It’s taken months to excavate the old church cellar and make it adaptable as four two-bedroom apartments. He was given permission to enlarge the ground-level windows (the stone work was so well adapted you would not know it had been touched by masons).

He was able to add a couple apartments in the former choir room, social hall and carriage house.

“We are in this for the long haul. The church has been standing since 1881 and the renovation is worth the wait,” Kamenetz said.