Demolition began in recent weeks on the former Bard Building at 600 E. Lombard St. Downtown. The former school building is owned by Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) and has been vacant for 14 years. Demolition will create a temporary green space until BCCC develops a vision to redevelop the land.
In 2021, BCCC put out a request for expressions of interest (REOI) to find a partner to turn the building into a surface parking lot, but Senate President and District 46 Senator Bill Ferguson made a request to then Governor Larry Hogan to fund demolition costs for the building and to make it a green space “until we can figure out what comes after.”
The 169,000 sq. ft. Bard Building sits adjacent to the Power Plant Live! complex and the Baltimore Holocaust Memorial. BCCC was previously looking for a developer to build on the site and had a memorandum of understanding with Power Plant Live! owner The Cordish Companies to build a 45-story tower at the site, but BCCC pulled out of the agreement in 2020.
