The hub of culture, commerce and government, our urban downtown with a small town feel is vibrant, walkable and economically vital. We are at the heart of a county that features nationally recognized biotech companies, three colleges, a super educated workforce and great amenities.

Downtown Frederick is a real place—not a museum. We value our beautiful architecture and history-lined streets, our neighborhood character and characters, our independent businesses and our year-round events that attract residents and visitors alike. We retain our historic charm while embracing new ideas. The people who live here and work here make us cool, reflecting a diversity of ethnicities, lifestyles, ages and incomes. Already a vital hometown today, Downtown Frederick in the next five years will be a stronger, better, greener, more attractive place to work, shop, dine and build a life.

You are invited to a Public Art Design Workshop on Wednesday, November 9 from 7pm-8:30pm to learn about and provide your feedback on plans for a new sculptural landmark for North Market Street.

The workshop is organized by Downtown Frederick Partnership and African American Resources – Cultural Heritage Society of Frederick County (AARCH Society).

Public art consultants William and Teresa Cochran will describe little-known aspects of the site’s history and engage participants in a conversation to shape the design approach and artist selection for a prominent new contemporary sculpture for the Seventh Street Fountain Park.

The sculpture is envisioned as a statement piece to honor our shared humanity and Frederick’s collective commitment to building a more sustainable and inclusive community.

The newly redesigned and improved Seventh Street Fountain Park will begin construction in the summer of 2023. The restored 19th century cast iron fountain and the new contemporary public artwork will be twin focal points for the new park.

For more information on the new park design, visit downtownfrederick.org/projects or contact the Partnership at 301.698.8118 or kara@downtownfrederick.org

 

Seventh Street Fountain Park

Located at a key intersection on North Market St, the Seventh Street Fountain Park currently is an underutilized open space in need of investment.  The project underway, led by the Partnership with many partners, creates a great opportunity to respond to community input by adding seating, creating shade, providing flexible open space, establishing a physical and visual buffer to the street edge and becoming a new home for public art. The new park design includes all of these ideas and more.

The Partnership is working with the City of Frederick, the Ausherman Family Foundation and the African American Resources-Cultural Heritage Society of Frederick County (AARCH) to significantly improve the park. The City of Frederick has committed to fund the refurbishment of the historic fountain. The Foundation is matching the City investment dollar for dollar by funding necessary design/construction documents as well as a portion of the capital costs of implementing the park space redesign. AARCH and the Partnership are working together with the support of the other partners to hire an experienced professional artist to create and install a freestanding contemporary sculpture in the park. The Seventh Street Fountain Park is located in the shadow of a mural dedicated to Civil Rights leader Lord Nickens. The new artwork will provide an opportunity to recognize our shared humanity, honor the highest within us and call us all to the work of creating a more sustainable community. 

Currently, the construction documents are in development and the process to identify an artist to develop and complete the public work is underway. The construction document process and related approvals is anticipated to be completed in early summer 2023.     

Project Timeline

In 2013, Downtown Frederick Partnership engaged landscape architecture firm Mahan Rykiel Associates to create a series of concept designs that reimagined the Seventh Street Fountain Park.  Following a series of community input sessions, a vetted concept design was created.  However, funding for implementation of the plan was not available at the time and the project was put on hold.

In FY19, the City’s CIP budget held in reserve approximately $250,000 to rehabilitate the historic fountain at the Seventh Street Fountain Park as it has experienced physical deterioration and requires repair.  The Partnership saw the opportunity to restart the 2013 park improvement plan and forged a funding partnership with the Ausherman Family Foundation to provide a dollar-for-dollar match to the City’s CIP investment. This additional investment will help to make non-fountain related park improvements possible. 

In April 2019, Mahan Rykiel Associates was engaged to revise the 2013 concept plans to incorporate the park’s underground infrastructure and ensure that any proposed changes to facilities would be feasible.  In April, a community workshop was held to gain feedback on the revised concept plans. Since 2013, the Partnership learned that the significant underground public infrastructure (water, sewer, electric, etc) within the park space made moving the fountain closer to Seventh Street infeasible. This move of the fountain was identified by the community as a goal in 2013. With this new information, enhancing the park space, while keeping the fountain in its current location, became the focus of developing the new design that was presented in April 2019.

Following the April 2019 community workshop, the Foundation and the Partnership worked with the consultant to update the concept plan to reflect input from community members and City staff.  The revised concept plan (download July 2019 Concept Package here) was presented to the City of Frederick’s Park and Recreation Commission at a hearing on August 13, 2019 and received a positive recommendation from the commission.  The revised concept plan was presented to the City of Frederick’s Historic Preservation Commission and received approval on March 25, 2022.  Currently, construction documents are under development.  The construction document process and related approvals is anticipated to be completed in early summer 2023. 

In the summer of 2020, the Partnership and AARCH successfully applied for funding to hire a public art consultant to lead the process of creating public art to be located in the park.  Beginning in 2013, community input consistently has noted the importance of public art for this park space.  Working with public art consultant William Cochran, AARCH and the Partnership are working towards hiring an artist to create and implement a new artwork for the space. 

Seventh Street Fountain History 

According to an August 23, 1902 article in The News, the fountain located at the Seventh and North Market Streets intersection was erected in September 1890 by Smyser Brothers of York, PA. The fountain cost $200 which was entirely funded by popular subscription. Contributors “expected that the fountain would be an ornament to the city and everybody felt pride in it.”

At the time of installation, the fountain was located in a roundabout at the Seventh and North Market Streets intersection. At some point, the roundabout was extended to the south. In 1983, significant changes occurred including moving the fountain to a less prominent location on the site, installing new water features that direct water at the fountain and adding a trellis. In late 2017, the City removed the trellis constructed in 1983 due to physical failure.

Downtown Hotel at Carroll Creek

One of the fastest-growing counties in Maryland, Frederick has become a draw for all kinds of travelers. Now spending more than $1 million per day, these travelers visit for business and for pleasure. They also overwhelmingly want to stay in Downtown Frederick. And soon, they will.

Building on the momentum of the past 30+ years of investment, the Downtown Hotel at Carroll Creek is an exciting project that will bring new lodging and meeting space to Downtown Frederick.  This new facility, located at the intersection of East Patrick and Carroll Streets, responds to both community desires and business needs. To stay up to date on the progress of the Downtown Hotel at Carroll Creek, visit downtownhotelatcarrollcreek.com.

Redevelopment of the Post Office Site

Downtown Frederick Partnership is committed to advocating for the redevelopment of the Post Office site. Redevelopment would include retaining the retail post office either on site or in close proximity and relocating the remaining uses. Click here to view Downtown Frederick Partnership’s full policy statement on the redevelopment of the post office site.

On September 20 and 21, 2016, the Partnership together with the City of Frederick’s Planning and Economic Development Departments and East Frederick Rising held two public input sessions and a public presentation related to the Post Office site in Downtown Frederick. The first day sessions provided an opportunitiy for community members to proactively provide input on site opportunities and the community’s vision for the site. The public presentation offered a summary of the ideas generated, along with analysis by the consultant team. The final report from the two-day design process can be downloaded here.

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Monocacy Valley Cannery

This 30,000 square foot building offers a unique combination of old and new. The first class features magnificent post and beams, exposed brick and craftsman accents throughout. The historic buildings on site are joined with loft contemporary suites for one of a kind offices. All suites are built to suit. The Cannery is located on East Street, a new access point into Downtown Frederick, and offers limited parking.

Live Downtown Frederick

Live Downtown Frederick is an initiative of the 2020 Downtown Frederick Partnership Strategic Plan. Our goal is to welcome 335 new residents to Downtown Frederick by 2020.

The first step in what the Partnership anticipates will be a three year process was to learn more about the local housing market today and what impediments and incentives exist. The analysis was completed by a consultant team that included Seth Harry and Associates and Townscape Design. This analysis was presented at a Live Downtown Frederick Housing Symposium that was held Friday, April 28, 2017. The final report from the Symposium can be downloaded here.

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520 N Market

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PIRHL Developers, LLC and Interfaith Housing Alliance have partnered to develop 520 N Market St Apartments, a workforce housing development which will offer 59-units with a mix of one- two- and three-bedroom units. The project involves the adaptive reuse of a former 1900’s school building as well as two new construction buildings, all in the heart of Downtown Frederick’s Arts and Entertainment District. The conversion of the school building will be a gut-rehab, removing all structures and systems in the building except for structural walls.

Kemp Hall

Purchased in May of 2017 by Ausherman Properties, the historic Kemp Hall at 2 E Church St is undergoing significant renovations. The building is being converted into 18 modern, studio and loft-style apartments in the heart of Downtown Frederick’s retail and restaurant scene. Find out more at www.kemp-hall.com.

Drawing inspiration from emerging urban hotspots and repurposed neighborhoods across the country, Kemp Hall seeks to attract young professionals with a focus on convenience, user experience and spaces with individuality. The building’s street-facing appearance will remain largely unchanged, while outdoor amenities are planned for the benefit of the buildings tenants.

Ox Fibre Apartments

The Ox Fibre Apartments is a redevelopment project which aims to revitalize the historic Ox Fibre Brush Company factory at 400 E Church St. Developed by Hook Properties, Equity Plus, and Broad Creek Capital, the project will provide Downtown Frederick with 83 new loft style apartments that will serve as workforce housing for the community. The historic, character-defining features of the factory will be restored, and the surrounding site will be improved with a playground, green space, and a community room. The project is designed by Antunovich Associates and Harris-Smariga and Associates. Morgan Keller Construction will serve at the project’s general contractor.

Increasing MARC Train Service to Downtown Frederick

Downtown Frederick Partnership is committed to achieving increased MARC train service to Downtown Frederick. As part of this policy, the Partnership supports building a new Point of Rocks Station platform to increase weekday MARC service to Downtown Frederick. The MARC Brunswick line provides service between Washington DC and Martinsburg WV at four stations in Frederick County: Brunswick, Point of Rocks, Monocacy and Downtown Frederick. With the new platform, the Point of Rocks station will experience improved service because all trains on the MARC Brunswick line will be able to stop at this station.

Increased MARC Train Service would make Downtown Frederick a more attractive place to live and locate a business by increasing regional access. A new Point of Rocks Station platform also will permit MARC to maximize the effectiveness of their operations by providing more commuting options without adding trains. The platform could allow for trains currently in service to travel northbound to serve the Downtown Frederick station. For more information about this project, download our full policy statement here.

Upcoming Downtown Events

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Each year, the Partnership tackles strategic initiatives to bring more residents and employees to Downtown Frederick, offers an exciting season of events and works closely with downtown businesses and partners to continue to strengthen and improve Downtown Frederick.