THE HISTORY OF 405 – 417 EAST OLIVER STREET
1848
Built as a brewery by the Albion Brewery, later known as the Berger Brewery. Hand laid stone and the main footprint that is AREA 405.
1904-1905
The lots were purchased by the C.M. Kemp company. The four story brick structures were built with the crossing three story connector, and on the 405 side of the building, the brick was built atop the original stone brewery foundations. Kemp Manufacturing made compressed air dryers for manufacturing and industry that are still in use today in Florida.
Kemp also rented out space to smaller companies - electrical supply builders, telephone companies and other small manufacturers of bits and bobs.
1930's
The two big buildings in the back were built, ultimately comprising the full 66,000 square foot compound.
1950's
Tom-Len, a furniture and marine upholstery group occupied the building, making pseudo-scandinavian stuff as well as urethane products, marine foam pads, and other semi useful items that took up space.
1968-1989
The buildings were purchased by the Crown Shade Company, who manufactured and sold hundreds of thousands of window shades and venetian blinds through 1989. Crown Shade Company removed the the two-story bay windows, whose wood framing had greatly deteriorated and glass was used for target practice. During this era, the overhead doors and fire safety system in the front gallery were installed.
1989-2001
Moving to Rosedale in 1989 - where they continue to do business today - Crown turned over the Oliver Street facility to Henry's Shade Company, who sold off old stock from this location until Henry's death in 1998. When we toured the building in January 2001, we found it floor-to-ceiling full - nearly all 66,000 square feet of it - of defunct machinery, debris, rolls of vinyl, old stock and detritus. Henry's telephones were still ominously blinking with messages, and even with the behemoth stockpile and the chill of vacancy, we knew we had found our home.
2001 - 2022
The building was purchased by 3 Square Feet, LLC having formed their partnership in 2000 with the purpose of purchasing a building to call home. After 14 months of work and with little idea what a massive undertaking we had in store, we purchased the 66,000square foot entity on 5 March 2002. We had a 5-year plan, however, the most important part of the project was to get the life safety and fire suppression system up and running with an alarm system in place and encase the stairwells for fire protection, all of which was accomplished in the first 18 months of ownership.
A tally of some of the work we had done without any heavy machinery like bobcats, backhoes, etc included…
Over 180 industrial-sized 30-yard dumpsters of debris were removed from the building, most of which were in the first seven years of ownership. This included countless tons of cardboard and wood that were separated and recycled.
Two tractor-trailer loads of rolls of vinyl were sent to India for use as roofing material - we also like to believe they were made into superhero capes - the weight of that was more than 35,000 lbs.
Over 500 tons of steel has also been removed and recycled - that's One Million Pounds of metal recycled without the benefit of electric equipment. This was loaded and carried away using only gravity, pallet jacks, human muscle, and sheer will fueled by lots of beer, pizza, and friendship.
With over 45 artists working in the building, The Studios @ AREA 405, The Station North Tool Library, and AREA 405 (the exhibition space) celebrated 20 years of independent artist-run ownership. We proudly functioned as an anchor of the Greenmount West neighborhood, Station North Arts & Entertainment District, and Baltimore City.
End of an era of Artist Run Exhibition and Arts @ 405 (that’s AREA 405)
405 East Oliver Street has been a hub of artistic, community, and social activity since officially opening its doors as to the public in February 2003. AREA 405 celebrated its last exhibition, A.Wake, with a closing, in December 2021.
2022–2023
Through robust capital fundraising and a unique public/private partnership, Central Baltimore Partnership (CBP) and Baltimore-based real estate developer Ernst Valery together purchased AREA 405, with the main purpose of preserving its affordability and vitality, as well as improving the functionality of the building.
After a year-long design and construction process, Phase 1 of the redevelopment was completed in early March 2023 with the award of Use and Occupancy Permits for the first three floors. Phase 2, underway, includes design development and rehabilitation for additional affordable artist studios, enhancing the exhibition space with high-quality lighting and upgraded AV system, improving ADA accessibility, and restoring the industrial architectural details on the Oliver Street façade.
The soft reopening of The Gallery in 2023 ushers in the next chapter of this unique venue and a rededication to providing an accessible platform for exhibition, performance, and community-based programming.
2024
AREA 405 kicks off its official reopening in early Spring of 2024, with the first exhibition Theresa Robertson: AREA 405 Portrait Project.