After a productive summer of clearing planning hurdles and completing MEP installations, crews have entered the final weeks of building the Safe Center.
A project of the nonprofit Safe Alternative Foundation for Education, the 3,200-square-foot center on South Payson Street is designed to include a workshop and classroom space and deliver National Center for Construction Education (NCCER) accredited training programs in construction trades.
Four years ago, the BC&E Foundation got involved in the daunting plan to create the training center in three vacant Baltimore rowhouses, including one that had been converted into a car wash. The buildings had experienced decay, water damage and renovations that made the proposed project especially challenging. For example, the ground floor of the former carwash had been sloped for drainage and the upper floor raised to accommodate the car bay. The floors of the three rowhomes did not align.
Despite initial fears that the property would have to be torn down, GWWO Architects developed a plan to salvage and transform the space, and construction began…