The University of Baltimore’s midtown campus would serve as a temporary home for Baltimore City College high school while it undergoes renovations starting in the fall of 2025, under a plan that both parties have been exploring for the past year.
The university’s Academic Center and William H. Thumel Sr. Business Center, both located at the intersection of Charles Street and Mount Royal Avenue, are two campus buildings that would accommodate high school students under the relocation plan, which is still being finalized. Some university classes may be rescheduled but would not otherwise be affected, under the plan.
The landmark City College building at 3220 The Alameda dates from 1929 and is scheduled to close for renovations as part of the 21st Century Schools initiative. The work is expected to take three years to complete, from mid-2025 to August of 2028.
Founded in 1839, the college preparatory school is the nation’s third oldest public high school and has 1,497 students in grades 9 to 12, according to baltimorecityschools.org.
If administrators move ahead with the relocation plan, it would bring all of those students plus their teachers and other school employees to the midtown district for three years, providing more activity on the street and potential customers for shops and businesses in the area.
The shift would take place while several major construction projects are underway nearby, including a $150 million project to upgrade Penn Station at 1500 N. Charles St. and a $150 million mixed-use development planned for another University of Baltimore property, the former U. S. Postal Service vehicle maintenance facility at Oliver Street and Maryland Avenue.
“Great for our kids’
Andre Riley, Executive Director of Communications for Baltimore City Public Schools, said administrators still have some final details to work out but are optimistic they will be able to reach agreement with the University of Baltimore on the relocation plan.
“We’re optimistic that we will eventually finalize an agreement with the University of Baltimore that will allow City College to be held there during their transition period,” he said today. “There are still some details that need to be resolved, but again, we’re optimistic it will happen. I don’t have a timeline on that, but it’s been an ongoing discussion. We think it will be great for our kids. We just have to figure out the details.”
City College’s proposed move to midtown is different from many recent school relocations, in which students move temporarily from one city school property to another.
Administrators had floated plans to use the Thurgood Marshall Building at 5001 Sinclair Lane as swing space for City College, but that option drew questions because the property is not centrally-located within the city. That move was scheduled to take effect starting in the fall of 2024.
The idea of using the University of Baltimore campus was outlined in a letter sent to the Baltimore City College families on May 31, 2023. In that letter, administrators also told parents that the start of renovation work has been pushed back to the fall of 2025, due to “supply chain disruptions occurring throughout the construction industry,” and the work would still take three years to complete.
“While the delay is disappointing,” the letter said, “it has provided us time to begin to explore a partnership with the University of Baltimore (UB) to serve as the swing space location for City College during the renovation. Under the partnership, City College students would use portions of the UB’s downtown campus during the day. A substantial portion of the UB’s academic programs are offered online or in the evenings, leaving the UB with available space to welcome our students during daytime hours.”
The letter cautioned that administrators still had several issues to work out before the plan becomes final.
“We are at the preliminary stages of exploring this possibility,” the letter said. “Several legal and operational issues would have to be resolved for such a partnership, and input needs to be gathered from university community members and City College staff and families. Also, we would need to identify a plan for outdoor athletic facilities during the swing space period.”
One advantage of moving to the University of Baltimore campus, administrators said, is that it would expose City College students to a college-caliber learning environment.
“If we can work through all these details and an agreement is reached,” the letter said, “City College students would have access to collegiate-level facilities and lecture halls that facilitate City College’s International Baccalaureate programming during the renovation and give students experience being on a college campus.”
‘Looking forward to it’
Riley said this week that identifying athletic facilities is still “part of the ongoing discussions.” He declined to go into specifics about other details that need to be worked out.
“It appears that we’re close,” he said. “We just have to resolve some important details. Hopefully it will happen sooner than later. We’re looking forward to it. We think it will be great for our kids, once we work everything out.”
Kurt Schmoke, former three-term Mayor of Baltimore and president of the University of Baltimore since 2014, is a graduate of Baltimore City College, where he was the quarterback on the school’s state champion football team and also excelled in lacrosse.
A member of City College’s Class of 1967, Schmoke said he brought up the idea of the high school moving to the University of Baltimore campus while its building is being renovated. He noted that one university building is already partially used by the city’s police department, as a training facility.
“I raised with them the possibility of the high school moving onto our campus because, except for the law school, we are essentially a night program,” Schmoke said.
To supplement space in the Academic Center, the university’s Merrick School of Business, which is based in the Thumel center, can schedule its classes after 4 o’clock to accommodate the high school students, he explained. The university’s John and Frances Angelos Law Center and certain other campus buildings won’t be affected, he said.
Schmoke said he believes the transition plan will benefit both City College and the university, especially the idea of having high school classes on a college campus. He pointed to all the improvements coming to midtown, including the mixed-use development planned for Maryland Avenue and the upgrades to Penn Station, which is practically across the street from the Academic Center.
“I think it is an outstanding investment for Baltimore, because we’re right in the center of the city” and “it’s coming at the right time,” he said of all the new development. “The train station, the new high-speed rail coming in – it’ll be a major attraction.”
