TOWSON, Md. — The future of Towson High School's building will be reviewed at a meeting Tuesday night, as the community and school system decide on renovating or replacing the historic institution.
Baltimore County Public Schools announced the community stakeholder meeting, to be held at 6:30 p.m. at West Towson Elementary to review a recommended mitigation option. The school system recently finished collecting community input on what to do with the school.
A recent presentation determined four options for demolishing or renovating parts of the school, including demolishing the whole building.
Towson High School, built in the late 1940s off of Aigburth Road, is a Baltimore County landmark and was listed in the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties; it was also recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.
The Maryland Historical Trust called the building "a distinctive and rare 1940s example of Mid-Century Modern School Architecture which survives largely intact."
"[The school] is an early example of Mid-Century Modern school design that was particularly prevalent in the post-World War 11 era. As baby boomer children reached school age in the I 950s in Maryland and around the nation, many schools were built in this style to accommodate rapidiy increasing enrollments. Towson High School, although updated and altered, retains integrity to its original design and appearance. The school is unusual for its use of stone for its exterior material, which is a preeminent character defining feature. Although the windows and doors were replaced, the pattern of fenestration and design of the originals was essentially preserved. The rare exterior stone walls and interior terrazzo floors, glazed tile and block walls all remain intact, making the Towson High School a distinctive and rare 1940s example of Mid-Century Modern School Architecture which survives largely intact."
Towson High got some infrastructure updates in 1996, including new windows, doors, interior updates and heating/air-conditioning systems.
The design process for the school is scheduled to run through March 2025.
