This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Uncle Lee's and the Great Wall of Waverly

A commercial property owner's code violations endanger a beloved city mural.

 

I was one on several people getting a message today from Tom Chalkley:

 Dear Guardians of Waverly,

Find out what's happening in North Baltimorewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 My partner-in-murals, Greg Gannon, tells me he walked past the Waverly mural today and that the Uncle Lee's building continues to take on a lot of water.  Over time -- who knows how long -- that will definitely destroy the mural AND the building. I'm told that if someone were to get photographs of the damage, the city could make a move. The roof is hard to reach unless you climb up (trespassing jeopardy?) but you can see, all too clearly, the damage to the interior wall immediately behind the mural. Just look through the window.  Not sure how one would photograph the mess, but the wall looks like a relief map of volcanic islands. We used the very best materials we could, and we did considerable wall repairs, but there is nothing we could have done to keep the rain, ultimately, from undermining 1/8 inch of plastic paint on mortar. It’s a shame to see the negligence of Uncle Lee's destroy their property as well as the community's painting. 

 

Find out what's happening in North Baltimorewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In a response, Neighborhood Revitalization Manager Peter Duvall pointed out:

 A year or so ago, I sent the best picture of the water damage on the inside that I could take to Housing.  This didn't appear to generate any interest.  It really wasn't a very good picture.  Last week I also talked to Harvey Jones the code inspector assigned to Baltimore Main Streets about this and similar buildings.  He explained the catch 22 that so often occurs regarding interior damage in commercial buildings, i.e. There is no way to prove from the outside that there is interior damage to the building so there is no justification to enter the building to inspect for violations.  In this case, since the interior damage is sort of visible from the outside, an aggressive inspector could justify a violation notice (in my opinion).  That is clearly a judgment call. Perhaps, a better camera person could take a picture that clearly shows the damage on the inside.  I think we could then send that picture to various housing officials in hope of generating interest in the situation.

 

I remember the days when many of us would walk to Uncle Lee’s for dinner. It usually always involved table hopping to visit with all the people one knew who were eating there, too. It was a great place to take out-of-town guests, or parents and to celebrate special occasions. Their cold noodles with peanut sauce were Baltimore’s Best and I loved the spicy garlic eggplant entree! 

 

That led me to the internet to figure out when the restaurant opened and closed. News clips told the story.

 “Bland Beginning To Second Decade” DINING OUT November 25, 1990 by Janice Baker:

Uncle Lee's was born in 1979, on the site of a progressively deteriorating Eddie's grocery store. At the beginning, the building was half restaurant and half an excellent Chinese market that sold jasmine teas and gyoza wrappers, and less familiar products like almond powder, Chinese sesame paste and jars of fermented rice. (Such things were not available all over the city then.) The store didn't take, but the restaurant did. Its interesting dishes tasted of ingredients that had been freshly assembled and cooked, the peppers were hotter than any around, and tastes were surprising, often explosive, and authoritative. There was a clipping in the window that described the chef's previous success at a restaurant in New York. He was terrific. That was 11 years ago, and a lot has happened in the interim, including the transformation of those two city blocks into an Oriental-restaurant island. First, the Thai Restaurant moved across the street, then the China Palace moved next door, and finally the Szechuan Dynasty moved next to the Thai. FYI: The Golden Star has been there forever. See it in "Polyester" When we went back to Uncle Lee's recently, it was our first visit in seven or eight years. We were surprised by some changes, including a skylight in the ceiling, and a large goldfish-packed fish tank at the entryway. We found ourselves in a comfortable and quiet booth, and in an atmosphere marginally more polished than many neighborhood Chinese eateries, which we attributed to some restful beiges in the rooms and to the comforts of white tablecloths and cloth napkins.

 

Baltimore Sun “Baseball back at Memorial”  January 06, 1993 about the Baysox minor league team playing at the stadium:

The bar (Stadium Lounge) wasn't the only business affected by the Orioles' new home. Other area establishments also missed the crowds baseball drew. "The stadium used to bring a lot of people, mostly tourists, from different areas like D.C., Virginia and Pennsylvania," said Po Chang, 28, assistant manager at Uncle Lee's Szechuan Restaurant on Greenmount Avenue. "Since there were so many people walking around and lots of police patrolling the neighborhoods, people felt safer about coming out," he said. "It's nothing compared to the Orioles," said Mr. Chang, referring to the minor league team. "But it'll bring in some more business to this area."

 

City Paper Eat Special Issue 1998:

Baltimoreans have been visiting Uncle Lee's Szechuan Restaurant (3317 Greenmount Ave) for Chinese food for a long time. The Greenmount location has perhaps seen better days--it was a favorite pre-game dinner stop when the O's ruled a few blocks away at Memorial Stadium (if you dined there you could leave your car in the restaurant lot and walk to the game). But the graceful Inner Harbor restaurant, situated in an ornate, vaulted building that was once a bank, remains a popular spot. 

 

Baltimore Sun  October 30, 1997 Farewell to Uncle Lee’s:

The end of an era? It was Uncle Lee's Szechuan (3317 Greenmount Ave.) that two decades ago introduced Baltimore to a Chinese cuisine beyond egg rolls and sweet and sour pork. These days every Chinese restaurant worth its salt has spicy Szechuan dishes on the menu. Now Uncle Lee's owners are ready to retire, but their children aren't interested in taking over, so the restaurant is for sale -- as a restaurant or some other business. Meanwhile, Uncle Lee's has shortened its hours and is open Tuesdays through Sundays for dinner only. 

 

Waverly Commons report recently posted on Greater Homewood webpage:

We intend to continue to investigate the redevelopment potential of several key buildings, including Uncle Lee's building located at 3313 Greenmount - this former restaurant has potential as an organic market and/or restaurant. It also contains space that could work well as artist studios.  We have received disturbing reports regarding deterioration of this building.  Presuming that these reports are factual and the owner cannot help move the building towards reuse, we intend to advocate for code enforcement in order to head off further deterioration. 

 

Which brings us back to Tom’s urgent  appeal to hold Uncle Lee’s responsible for the building they first just vacated and then abandoned though they may someday sell it for a nice profit! Check it out yourself. Look inside the windows. It’s a dirty disgusting unsightly eyesore of a mess. As a number of people have observed - when you look inside the water damage to the walls and the mold can be clearly seen. Look above the mural and see the broken open windows.

Why has the city neglected to cite the property owner? 

 I called the city and spoke to Demetrius Mallisham, Liaison West & North Baltimore, in the Mayor's Office of Neighborhoods, 250 City Hall, 100 N. Holliday Street, Baltimore, MD 21202 (410) 396-4735 demetrius.mallisham@baltimorecity.gov 

He urged me to call 311 and get a tracking number which I have done.  It’s # 12-00079709.

He said he would mark this as a Mayor's request and would keep me informed. I don’t doubt him; but I do wonder whether the Mayor might be more inclined to insist that city inspectors do their job if her representative in the Office of Neighborhoods heard from everyone who sees and loves that mural and is concerned about the water damage.

Do you think it is worth saving from eminent water damage?

Do you think commercial property owners ought to be made to bring their buildings up to code? 

When Tom, Greg and others painted this beautiful colorful mural at the crossroads of  Greenmount Avenue and East 33rd Street where it is daily seen by thousands of commuters, residents and shoppers every day, the community and the artists in good faith believed that the city was going to enforce the code and use our tax dollars to do so.  

That’s the city’s job! So it was with hopeful expectation that upon completion of their creative effort, a celebration was held at which everyone sang the following song:

Melody - by Woody Guthrie, 1940 (for “This Land is Your Land”)

 

Revised lyrics - by Art Cohen, August 2010

 

 

 

 

This Wall

 

 

 

 

This wall is your wall, / this wall is my wall

 

 

 

 

From 29th Street / to 39th Street

 

 

 

From Greenmount (Barclay) / to El-lers-lie

 

 

 

This wall was made for Waverly.

 

 

As I go lookin’ / on that big mural

I see the people / urban and rural

I see those faces / which look familiar

This wall was made for you and me.

 

I take my time and / let my eyes roam

Over the colors / and views of our home

Our neighborhood is / pictured fully

This wall was made for you and me.

 

The carried street signs / all tell their story

About our struggles, / guts and glory

From our playground / to the Farmers Market

This wall was made for you and me.

 

This wall was painted / by many others

Who gave of their time, / sisters and brothers

Who saw their purpose / to work together

This work was made for you and me.

 

This wall is your wall, / this wall is my wall

From 29th Street / to 39th Street

From Greenmount Avenue (Barclay) / to El-lers-lie

This wall was made for Waverly.

 

(spoken) Because...

 

This town is your town, / this town is my town

From Ches’peake Bay to / B’more County

From biotech to / charming city

This town was made for you and me.

 

 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from North Baltimore