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Description:
The Commercial Credit Company Building stands at 300-314 St. Paul Place in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood of downtown Baltimore. The Modern building was constructed between 1954 and 1957 by the prominent New York architectural firm of Harrison and Abramovitz for the Commercial Credit Company. Clad primarily in gray aluminum panels with a slightly projecting gray Deer Isle granite base, the 19-story building is bounded by St. Paul Place to the east, E. Saratoga Street to the south, Lovegrove Street to the west, and Elizabeth Court to the north. The site has a significant slope in grade to the east creating a stepped façade, with a 19-story tower to the east, a 5-story portion in the center, and a 2-story portion to the west. There are concrete sidewalks along all elevations and no other significant site features. The surrounding area consists largely of multi-story, early 20th to early 21st century commercial buildings with scattered parking lots. In general, the Commercial Credit Company Building is of comparable scale to the surrounding buildings. The primary, east, elevation faces St. Paul Place and is 24 bays wide. The first floor is clad in granite panels in the outermost bays with a glazed aluminum curtain wall in the center, which is slightly recessed from the granite. The center of the curtain wall, which dates to 2002, contains two double-leaf glazed aluminum doors within a multi-light aluminum surround. Above the entrance is open metal lettering that reads “OneMain Financial.” To the south of the primary entrance is a double-leaf glazed aluminum door. The entrance location is original to the building but the door itself dates to 2002. To the north of the primary entrance was an additional entrance opening that was retrofitted with glazing in 2002. Above the curtain wall is a triangular aluminum canopy that supports a centered aluminum flagpole. The canopy and flagpole also date to 2002. The second through 19th floors are slightly recessed from the first floor. The second floor is entirely clad in banded, full-height one-light aluminum windows and there is a simple glass and aluminum railing that is flush with the first-floor footprint. The third through 18th floors are entirely clad in angled aluminum panels separated by simple aluminum pilasters and punctuated by the original one-light aluminum windows. These windows, as those throughout the building, operate with a vertical center pivot. The 19th-floor window bays have no infill, as the 19th floor contains mechanical space and its footprint is smaller than that of the floors below. The north elevation is similar to the south elevation. It is 23 bays wide on the first and second floor, 22 bays wide on the third through fifth floors, and 12 bays wide on the 6th through 19th floors. The first floor is entirely clad in granite panels. In the center of the elevation are two garage-style metal doors. To the east of the doors are a single-leaf metal door and a one-light aluminum window. On the second floor, the four easternmost bays contain banded, full-height one-light aluminum windows with a glass and aluminum railing to match the east and south elevations. The remainder of the second floor is clad in granite panels with three aluminum vents at the west end and no other openings. The third through 19th floor openings match those on the east, south, and west elevations. The west elevation is designed in three planes, with the first and second floors extending to Lovegrove Street, the third through fifth floors somewhat recessed to the east, and the 6th through 19th floors even more recessed to the east. The first and second floors are entirely clad in granite panels with regularly spaced louvered aluminum vents. Near the south end of the third floor is a late 20th century metal bridge that connects the building to 301 N. Charles Street to the west. This bridge was constructed when the buildings were briefly operated together. The remainder of the third-floor openings, along with the fourth through 19th floors, match those on the east and south elevations. The south elevation faces E. Saratoga Street. It is 23 bays wide on the first and second floors, 22 bays wide on the third through fifth floors, and 12 bays wide on the 6th through 19th floors. The first floor is entirely clad in granite panels. From west to east are a double-wide garage-style metal door, four louvered aluminum vents, a double-leaf metal door, and a one-slight aluminum window. On the second floor, the west end is also clad in granite panels with three louvered aluminum vents. The remainder of the floor is clad in banded, full-height one-light aluminum windows with a glass and aluminum railing to match the east elevation. The openings on the third through 19th floors match those on the east elevation.
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Significance:
The Commercial Credit Company Building is historically significant for its association with commerce, for its relation to the nationally prominent Commercial Credit Company, which commissioned its design. The building is also architecturally significant as a good local example of Modern architecture designed by the prominent national firm of Harrison and Abramovitz and as the first postwar high-rise office building in Baltimore. The building not only typifies all that is most characteristic and significant of the firm’s work, but also of mid-century Modern architecture and its position as “corporate standard of the mid-20th century.” The period of significance begins in 1954, when the design of the building was begun, and ends in 1967, in accordance with the National Register’s fifty-year standard for listing. The Commercial Credit Company retained ownership of the building until 1989.
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