Campus Connection

Media Credit: Doug Linn Location of the new UMB bookstore: the 400 block of W. Baltimore St. [Click to enlarge]

A new University of Maryland, Baltimore bookstore, originally to be located in the lower levels of the new Campus Center under construction on West Lombard Street, will now be relocated to the 400 block of West Baltimore Street under a newly negotiated agreement between UMB, Baltimore City, and downtown development officials.

“President Ramsay has made the decision to locate the bookstore in the 400 block of West Baltimore as part of a redevelopment project for that block,” confirmed Ed Fishel, a spokesperson for the university.    

The university hopes that such a move will help students by furthering the redevelopment of a block that bridges that university, and particularly the School of Law, to other recently revived west side areas such as the Hippodrome Theater and Centerpoint.  

“You’re starting to get the sense that all these things [involved in the redevelopment of the west side] are coming together,” said Michael Evitts, public relations director of the Downtown Partnership, a nonprofit organization focused on encouraging development of downtown Baltimore.

The move will directly benefit students by freeing space and allowing for additional amenities in the new Campus Center.  “Students are now…and will continue to be…involved in the discussions [of use of the newly vacated space in the Campus Center],” said Fishel.  

Plans for the move of the new university bookstore to Baltimore Street have been under discussion for years, with concern during negotiations that storefronts along the block are historically protected.  Regulations in place protecting such historically protected buildings would have required any new development along the block to maintain the current exterior facades.  

Another concern emerged regarding the cost of locating the bookstore in a facility not owned by the university.  The cost of housing the bookstore within the Campus would have been less than paying rent to the owners of the structures on Baltimore Street.  Center

“The specifics of the total deal [to rent space from a developer], including financial incentives, are still being worked out,” said Fishel.  

“It would be good for the university and its image and good for the west side and good for the community,” said M.J. “Jay” Brodie, president of the Baltimore Development Corp., to the Baltimore Sun in referring to the new bookstore.   

Evitts believes that it will also encourage a greater sense of community among the thousands of residents that live within blocks of the new bookstore.  “It’s going to give people one more reason to hang out outside of their apartment, in the evenings, to wander over on a Saturday, have a cup of coffee, maybe run into some friends, and do some book shopping,” he said.  

The new bookstore will be located behind the Hippodrome Theater along Baltimore Street, in buildings that are now occupied by a barber shop, food carryout store, and a pawn shop.  An opening date for the bookstore has not yet been set, but the university intends to use the existing bookstore through at least the next year.  

The current university bookstore, owned by Barnes & Noble, is located in the first floor of the Student on Pine Street.  When reached by phone, the bookstore manager declined to comment on the upcoming relocation.

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