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The Dripby Brew Editors4:17 pmFeb 17, 20110

Rawlings-Blake opposes historic landmark status for former Read’s drug store

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake says, in a letter to preservationists,  that she does not support efforts to put the Read’s Drug store, site of a 1955 civil rights sit-in, on a “special list” of historic landmarks, an action that would protect it from demolition for six months, The Baltimore Sun reports.

“At this point in time, I am not willing to return to square one on the Superblock. I do not want to see the developer, after finally attaining [Maryland Historical Trust] approval for the project in late December, suddenly forced to deal with the additional layers of local historic preservation review that special-listing or landmarking would require,” Rawlings-Blake wrote, according to the Sun‘s report of a meeting yesterday by the Baltimore Commission on Historical and Architectural Preservation.

After hearing testimony, members of CHAP decided to ask Rawlings-Blake not to approve the $150 million Lexington Square redevelopment, which calls for the demolition of historic buildings previously targeted for preservation.

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