20060525 KDDC 1974 Carroll County Office Building

January 8th, 1974 Carroll County Office Building

Recently Ralph Green, the Director of General Services for Carroll County, sent out an e-mail about a construction project at the Carroll County Office Building at 225 North Center Street, which is going to close the main rear entrance of the building from May 30^th, 2006, for approximately two weeks.

Apparently the ramp and rear entrance are going to be completely replaced?

The e-mail brought back memories as I worked on the Carroll County Office Building when it was first built in 1973-1974.

The picture attached to this post was taken by me on January 8^th, 1974. I worked on the Carroll County Office Building from December 31, 1973 to April 11, 1974. I worked for F&S Masonry as a mason’s tender and one of the jobs I had during that time period was helping set all the cap stones on the building.

Somewhere, I have a bunch of pictures from when I worked on the building – and I have a history of the building written-up. Sometime in my spare time, I’d like to dig those pictures and that information out…

Oh – are you aware that the County Office Building was built on swampland. There was a house there that I remember. I do have a very poor aerial photocopy of a photograph of the area…, which shows the house and the out-buildings. I think that I can get a better copy of the photograph…

As a matter of fact, as I wrote in my January 25^th, 2006 Westminster Eagle column, “Days of swine and ice cream greeted 20th century Westminster:”

Mrs. S. LaRue Crowl recently wrote to share with me that her grandfather, J. David Crowl, "owned and operated an ice cream factory on Center Street - the very spot where the Carroll County Office Building is now located.

"I don't know the exact dates of operation," she said, "but am assuming it was somewhere from 1910 through the 1920s.

"He died in 1931. My father, Ernest Crowl, would often tell how, as a boy, on Sundays he would deliver a half gallon of ice cream to the homes on Willis Street for a quarter."

Folks may be surprised to know – at least as I understand it - that Center Street did not go all the way to Rte 140, when Rte 140 was built.

I was not quite one year old when Rte 140 was dedicated, although I remember “Crowl Town” well. So some of this is from folklore and the memory of a small child.

Center Street only went to Crowl Town, which was a large group of houses between the stream that parallels Rte 140 and Rte 140 itself.

At the stream, there was a wooden bridge that allowed access to Crowl Town, but I do not believe that Center Street went all the way to Rte 140. If anyone remembers this differently, let me know.

Now, does anyone remember the name of the gas station at the corner of Center Street and Rte 140?

Meanwhile I’ll paste the rest of Mr. Green’s e-mail below, for those who need to visit the office building in the next several weeks.

“

The temporary public entrance effective Tuesday, May 30th and during the construction time will be at the lower level at the Public Hearing Room 003/004. Handicap access as well as parking will be designated and signs will be posted for directional purposes. Public parking will also be designated in that area.

Employees with access cards can continue to use all other entrances to enter the building.

The bailiffs will relocate to the lower level entrance and will direct visitors to other areas of the building via the public elevators. Anyone not sure of where they are going or the bailiffs don't know which office to send them to will be directed to the public information desk on the first floor via the public

The existing public parking area can be used by staff during this time so our customers can park and access the temporary entrance to conduct business.

The areas the contractor will be working in and staging materials in will be taped off to accommodate construction needs. Parking is permitted in any area not taped off and can be used by staff as well as visitors to the building. Remember to park in designated parking spaces only so construction equipment and deliveries can access the aisles of the parking lot.

Facilities will be taping off areas and installing temporary directional signs, handicap parking signs, etc., tomorrow afternoon, Friday, May 26^th, in preparation for the construction to begin on Tuesday when you return to work from the Memorial Day Holiday.

Any changes, as well as more information, will be communicated via e-mail to everyone by Tom Rio, Bureau of Building Construction.

I appreciate your cooperation and we will make this inconvenience as short as possible.

Thank you!