Saturday, February 1 @ 5:30 – 10:00 pm
Baltimore Food Hub, 1414 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21213
Celebrate Groundhog Day with the BAF—A one-of-a-kind party and fundraiser in a building typically not open to the public. Join us at the Baltimore Food Hub.
It’s the BAF’s biggest party of the year. Begin the night with a cocktail reception and open bar, or come later when the party kicks off with dancing and music. Will Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow?
Join us at the Baltimore Food Hub in the Storehouse, a beautiful Romanesque Revival building that for decades served the city’s water supply and now is a hub for local food entrepreneurs, located at the corner of Wolfe and Oliver Street. Cheers to Baltimore’s water supply (seriously the best in the country) and to the site’s visionary transformation.
$100 Cocktail Reception Tickets (5:30 pm – 7:00 pm + Party until 10:00 pm)
-Short presentation on the design and history of the Baltimore Food Hub by Ziger/Snead Architects
-Heavy hors d’oeuvres by La Cuchara
-Open bar until 7:00 pm with specialty cocktails by La Cuchara, wine and beer
-Dancing & music, 50/50 raffle
$35 Party Tickets (7:00 pm – 10:00 pm)
-2 drink tickets for specialty cocktails by La Cuchara, wine and beer
-Dancing & music, 50/50 raffle
David Koslowski of Baby’s On Fire and guest DJ B-Major spinning the best pop of the 1980s.
Totally ’80s – Festive 1980s attire! Find inspiration on our Pinterest page.
Event Schedule
5:30 pm – Cocktail Reception begins with open bar and heavy hors d’oeuvres by La Cuchara (for Cocktail Reception ticket holders only)
6:00 pm – Short presentation at 6:00 pm on the design and history of the Baltimore Food Hub by Ziger/Snead Architects (for Cocktail Reception ticket holders only)
7:00 pm – Party begins upstairs (Party ticket holders arrive)
10:00 pm – Event ends
The Groundhog Day Party is a major fundraiser in support of BAF and its many programs, from fostering the next generation of architects, to promoting the value of Baltimore’s architectural legacy to the public. Programs include tours, scholarships, publications, exhibitions, and the annual Doors Open Baltimore.
Arrival and Parking
When planning your trip, enter 1414 N. Wolfe Street as the GPS destination. Note that simply entering “Baltimore Food Hub” will take you around the corner to Oliver Street. The entrance to the party and the parking lot is off Wolfe Street (note that Wolfe is a one-way street heading south).
Onsite parking is limited and rideshare is encouraged.
About the Food Hub (Eastern Pumping Station)
Architect Jackson C. Gott.
The Food Hub is the incredible redevelopment of the Eastern High Service Pumping Station, a 41,000 SF campus consisting of 5 historic Victorian buildings designed in the Romaneque Revival style by Baltimore architect Jackson C. Gott that served Baltimore’s expanding water works. The renovation, led by the American Communities Trust and architects Ziger/Snead, will create a $26 million campus for food businesses and entrepreneurs in the heart of East Baltimore, so far including City Seeds and Pitango Gelato. There are plans for a restaurant, and space for manufacturing, offices, and retail.
The history of the site dates back to the 1870s when the City, nearly 20 years into Baltimore establishing a water board that changed the water supply from a private commodity to a public amenity. At the time, the Jones Falls was the primary water supply for Baltimore, but long summer droughts convinced the city that the system needed to be expanded to meet the demand. They selected the Gunpowder River and set out to build new infrastructure. The Eastern High Service Pumping Station entered service in 1891 with the capability to pump water to the Guilford Reservoir, and Druid Lake if required.
Cutty’s Gym. Photo courtesy HBO.
The campus grew to include a stable and carriage house, blacksmith shop, machine shops, and a storehouse. 37 years after entering service, the Eastern Pumping Station was replaced by the new electric pumping station at Hillen (Baltimore became one of the first large cities to fully electrify its pumping system). The Eastern Pumping Station stayed in service as an emergency backup until 1931 when it was shut down and transferred for use by the city’s street lighting outfit.
The site was later used for a World War II Air Raid Organization station, and as the site of Cutty’s Gym in The Wire. After a long period of vacancy, the Eastern Pumping Station is being transformed into the Food Hub, part of a larger revitalization taking place in Broadway East and surrounding neighborhoods adjacent to the Johns Hopkins Medical Campus. This includes Eager Park, the Hoen Lithograph Building, the American Brewery, and the Henderson Hopkins School. New planned amenities include the Last Mile Park that will form a linear park linking the Food Hub and Eager Park using the eight Amtrak underpasses bordering Broadway East and EBDI.
For more information about the history of the Eastern Pumping Station and Baltimore’s water works, see Ron Parks’ blog Water and Me and see his book Baltimore’s Water Supply History.
Thank You to Our Sponsors
Belair Road Supply
Lewis Contractors
MK Consulting Engineers
SM+P Architects
Whitney Bailey Cox & Magnani, LLC (WBCM)
Ziger/Snead Architects
Sponsorship Opportunities
Support the BAF and get your brand out there to the BAF’s audience of architecture and history lovers by sponsoring the Groundhog Day Party & Fundraiser.
