by FERN SHEN

An old stone church on 24th Street in Remington that is threatened by a proposed Lowe’s mixed-use development just got a new champion: the Baltimore preservation community.

It may be in a somewhat gritty area and not used as a church since at least the 1950s, but the former Royer’s Hill Methodist Episcopal Church, built in 1891, has a rich history as a mission of the famed Lovely Lane Methodist Church, according to Baltimore Heritage.

In a new blog post,  the group says the dark stone church building “which retains significant historic character,  should be preserved and utilized to help establish a successful transition between the commercial development and the historic residential Remingotn neighborhood.”

The controversial proposal unveiled last fall to redevelop the site of the former Anderson Automotive (with a Lowe’s Home Improvement store and other structures) appears to assume the demolition of the church.

Baltimore Heritage’s blog post has some fascinating history that explains the church’s role in Baltimore-area urban-suburban issues that date back more than a century.

The Brew has a photo slideshow about the neighborhood and the proposed development.

[slidepress gallery=’lowes-in-remington’]

((All photos in this online gallery are by Baltimore photographer/videographer John Dean, who has a larger slideshow about the Remington project here.))