Opening Doors to Baltimore’s Industrial Past

October 16, 2014 – “Opening Doors to Baltimore’s Industrial Past” in The Baltimore Sun by Scott Ponemone

Second Chance was privileged to be a featured site in the first Doors Open Baltimore event….  From the article:

“In contemporary architecture argot, the word for the adaptive use of old buildings is “repurposing.” Nowhere is this word better illustrated then at one of Baltimore’s architectural salvage operations: Second Chance, not far from the new Horseshoe Casino.

Not only has its huge complex of warehouses been repurposed — it once held Doveco, a fabricator of duct work, welding and structural support systems, as well as ILEX Woodworking — but Second Chance’s job is to repurpose parts of buildings about to be demolished.”

Second Chance was a pioneer in the deconstruction industry when it was founded in 2000,” says Kathleen Bailey, its director of development. “From the standpoint of our role in the deconstruction industry, it’s kind of an interesting place to see all of the amazing things here for sale that would otherwise end up in the landfill.

“Those “amazing things” include what appears to be acres of doors, kitchen cabinets, appliances, lighting, flooring, shutters, furniture, vintage door locks and hinges,
staircase banisters … you name it.

Second Chance will offer visitors a self-guided tour. “We’re going to give them a map, showing them areas that will be of more interest to them that have either examples of creative repurposing or salvaged architectural interests, that sort of thing,” Bailey says.