I'm in Baltimore, and I missed hearing about this. I'll see if I can find out what happened at that meeting and let you guys know.

I'm also in Baltimore and happened to catch the article on baltimoresun.com this morning. I've known the theatre to be in limbo for the past few years but was not aware what was potentially happening to it.

more images here

Although the building has some very beautiful sculptural moments, the way in which its entrance meets Charles Center Plaza is awkward and the way it meets (or turns its back on) the adjacent Charles Street is pretty much awful. I do believe, however, that the lower portion of the building could (and should) be modified to resolve these issues. The greatest challenge here could be finding a new use for the building.

I'm definitely willing to help here in any way I can and I'm pretty excited about the potential and possibilities.

here 'tis:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=mechanic+theater&sll=39.292428,-76.621404&sspn=0.011824,0.019956&ie=UTF8&view=map&ll=39.289082,-76.615745&spn=0.001478,0.002494&t=k&z=19&om=1

i see the issue at charles street. hm.

anyone got a photo from that side? the one that's closest from bryan4arch's link is the southeast corner where the drive goes down into the lower level, but there isn't much visible northeast of the flyloft.

I might try to hop down there tomorrow evening and get a few photos of the "back".

In the aerial photo, I think it could be possible to pretty extensively alter the low-slung rectangular area that surrounds the auditorium and still be left with 95% of the original fabric intact. I wouldn't be shy about really opening that portion up and in the process making it less rectilinear.

i wonder what kind of response contacting mr johansen himself and proposing a charrette with his involvement/encouragement might garner?

why does every urban brutalist 70's building end up with a god damned Rite Aid in it???? The same thing happened in Cincinnati in the old Contemporary Arts Center building

I can't imagine he'd be opposed. It would be worth getting in touch with him to find out. He sounds like a bit of a grumpy old man but his participation would lend some gravitas to the idea anyway.

Doesn't every building eventually ends up with a Rite Aid in it?

I think that there is a fairly 'important at the time' building in West Hollywood that now houses a Rite Aid

"The people whose views should be taken seriously are deans of architecture schools and that sort of thing, not the common person on the street."

he's not helping his own cause all that much. the letters by meier and polshek were equally off-putting. funny that such high profile architects can't play the pr game better. guess when it's not their project, they'll spout off.

nonetheless, i'm interested. adaptive reuse of a theater sounds very difficult. we're facing the same problem in detroit with ford auditorium, similarly modern and threatened. i'll offer what support i can as this develops.

I can't help but wonder if that quote from Johansen wasn't presented out of its original context...reporters have a way of doing that sometimes. Even if the guy *is* a total ass though, there are larger issues at play.

of course you could always just put an urban outfitters in it. that seems like the easiest route to adaptive re-use of a theatre.

in berwyn illinoiz they are trying to teardown the spiked car sculpture to put up a walgreen's.

that artist didn't seem to mind, though, in the interview i heard. he said it wasn't meant to last anyway. he was 'touched' that people were fighting for it, though.

i'd fight for that one, too, if only to be fighting against another f@#$ing walgreens.

nice idea, puddles. uo seems perfect for a theater. where have i seen that?