Inspired design and expert construction transformed the historic Crisp Memorial Church into a modern and vibrant learning annex for Baltimore City Public Schools’ Maree G. Farring Elementary School.
To ease overcrowding at the school, the three-story, 29,000-square-foot addition provides 13 classrooms and administrative space. The renovation transformed the former sanctuary into a cafeteria, kitchen and multipurpose space, and delivered multiple exterior improvements, including a fenced outdoor play and learning area. It also deftly married historic architecture to modern programming needs.
“Behind the finished walls, you have original stone from the 1880s now supporting newly installed steel from 2025,” said Justin Vega, Project Manager at Plano-Coudon Construction.
Completing the transformation, however, posed considerable challenges due to “the extent of unforeseen deterioration uncovered throughout construction,” Vega said. “Years of vacancy, water infiltration and termite damage had significantly compromised key elements of the building, including the walls, floors and roof structure. As our team often described it, the building was like an onion — each time we peeled back a layer and thought we understood the full scope of existing conditions, new issues would emerge.”
The project team addressed those complexities by completing a LiDAR scan and creating a detailed PointCloud model of the existing structure.
“That level of accuracy was critical,” Vega said. “It gave the design team a clear understanding of the existing conditions so they could design an in-kind replacement that maintained the building’s historic character.”
Featured in this article: Plano-Coudon Construction, Baltimore City Public Schools and Maree G. Farring Elementary School