The historic Harlem Park Theater has served as an anchor in West Baltimore since it was built in the 1930’s. The magnificent building, which sits on 614 N. Gilmor St., has been both a theater and a Baptist Church — and will soon serve as a multi-purpose event space, cultural arts center, and a resource center focused on employment and food justice, too.
After the Freddie Gray uprising, Angela (Angie) Francis, her son Tony, and many of their neighbors noticed bulldozers permeating in the community. While fighting against displacement from their own homes, it became clear that the theater was in jeopardy of being demolished, too. This lit an internal fire they sought out our Arts Space Technical Assistance Program (ASTA), to help them re-dream their neighborhood anchor.
Karla is now helping to prepare drawings for the project in an effort to bring the Harlem Theater back to life. She had the chance to talk to Tony and Angie about what this revitalization means to the Harlem Park community.
When the three began discussing the vision behind the project, Tony mentioned that this was a team effort. Their passion for equity in all realms is driving them to put this beautiful building to use to service the community.
Angie of AJOR Real Estate Group, and her business partners became owners of the theater after bulldozers began rolling through the area, “We didn’t have a choice,” explained Angie. To Angie, Tony, and their team this is not only a project of passion but also of necessity. Angie asserts that everything that the community needs will be available at the resource center set inside the historic Harlem Theater.
With some of its original seating still intact, and much of the original architecture, the theater has a lot of potential. The team is preserving as much memorabilia from the theater in its hay-day as possible. Movie posters, tickets, projection equipment, and other artifacts will be in a museum within the center to commemorate the memory of this pivotal Baltimore landmark.
Angie is looking forward to a new history in the making at the Harlem Park Theater. Having about 15,000 square feet to work with, the project has room for countless programs for the community. We are honored to be part of this journey with them!