Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building

Summary

The Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building is a historic office building located at Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is the former headquarters of the old Consolidated Gas, Light and Electric Power Company of Baltimore City, which was a merger at the turn of the 20th century of the former century old Gas Light Company of Baltimore with several other formerly competing gas and electric power companies which had risen in the late 19th century, to form a single metropolitan wide unified utility system. In 1955, the old cumbersome Consolidated title was jettisoned and the utility rebranded as the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BG&E).

Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building
Entrance to building at 39 West Lexington Street (southeast corner with North Liberty Street)
Map
Former namesBaltimore Gas & Electric Building
Consolidated Gas Company Building
Lexington Street Building
West Tower
Constellation Energy/BG&E Building
General information
TypeResidential apartments
Architectural styleBeaux-Arts architecture
Location39 W. Lexington St.
Baltimore, Maryland
Coordinates39°17′28″N 76°37′02″W / 39.2912°N 76.6171°W / 39.2912; -76.6171
Completed1916
Height
Roof88 m (289 ft)
Technical details
Floor count21
Design and construction
Architect(s)Parker, Thomas & Rice
Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building
Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building is located in Baltimore
Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building
Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building is located in Maryland
Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building
Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building is located in the United States
Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building
Built1916
Architectural styleBeaux Arts, Skyscraper
NRHP reference No.03001325[1]
Added to NRHPDecember 29, 2003
References
[2][3][4]

History and Construction edit

A 21-story skyscraper designed by the Boston and Baltimore-based architectural firm of Parker, Thomas and Rice, and was constructed in 1916. Standing at 88 m (289 ft) it was tied with the Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower from 1916 to 1923 as the tallest building in Baltimore.[5] It was constructed with a structural steel skeleton and tile arch flooring structure. The exterior is clad with gray granite and gray and white marble from the first through third floors (including the mezzanine) and glazed terra cotta in a Beaux-Arts Classical Style. The building includes sculptures at the fourth floor representing "knowledge", "light", "heat" and "power."[6][7]

Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.[1]

A smaller addition was built in 1966, designed by Fisher, Nes, Campbell & Associates.[6]

It was purchased in 2006 and reopened in 2007 as luxury apartments complete with two penthouse levels by Southern Management Companies.

References edit

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. ^ "Emporis building ID 118992". Emporis. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016.
  3. ^ "Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building". SkyscraperPage.
  4. ^ Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building at Structurae
  5. ^ "39 West Lexington". Doors Open Baltimore. Archived from the original on 2022-07-04. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  6. ^ a b Dorsey, John; Dilts, James D. (1981). A Guide to Baltimore Architecture (Second ed.). Centreville, Maryland: Tidewater Publishes. p. 57. ISBN 0-87033-272-4.
  7. ^ David M. Facenda (June 2003). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2016-03-01.

External links edit

  Media related to BGE Building (Baltimore) at Wikimedia Commons

  • Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building, Baltimore City, including photo from 2003, at Maryland Historical Trust