The Patterson Park Academy of Music marked the reopening of its first permanent location Friday after renovating a two‑story building at 3201 Noble St. in East Baltimore, turning a structure once used as an illicit marijuana greenhouse into a neighborhood music school.
The ribbon‑cutting capped about five years of planning and work by the academy’s founders, jazz pianist Joshua Espinoza and clarinetist Erik Franklin. The couple launched the academy in 2021 and decided they needed a dedicated space as the program expanded and the surrounding neighborhood changed.
From greenhouse to music rooms
When Espinoza and Franklin first toured the gray Formstone building near Patterson Park and north of Highlandtown, it showed clear signs of its prior use. They described black‑painted walls, multiple HVAC and irrigation runs in ceilings and floors, and a box that appeared to contain marijuana.
“All the walls were painted black,” Espinoza said, recalling the early condition of the building.
Despite the deterioration and former illegal use, the founders determined the structure had the “bones” necessary for conversion into a music school. The rehabilitation included cosmetic changes—such as a freshly painted logo on the building’s exterior—and interior work to create teaching and rehearsal spaces.
Financing the vision
The project combined private and public financing. The academy used a $300,000 bank loan along with a $200,000 grant from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development to complete the redevelopment.
| Source | Amount |
|---|---|
| Bank loan | $300,000 |
| Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development grant | $200,000 |
Community reaction
About a dozen supporters and elected officials attended the reopening ceremony. Among them was parent supporter Jessica Schatz, who spoke emotionally about the academy’s impact on her family after receiving her grandfather’s piano eight years earlier. She highlighted the value of the instrument as a teaching tool and as a way for her sons to learn perseverance and skill through music.
At the ceremony, Schatz addressed her two sons—listed as ages 10 and 7—and praised instructors Josh and Eric for turning a household heirloom into a learning instrument that demonstrates “you can do really hard things when you break them down into small pieces.”
- The school occupies a rehabilitated two‑story building at 3201 Noble St. in East Baltimore.
- Founders Joshua Espinoza and Erik Franklin launched the academy in 2021 and led the redevelopment.
- Financing combined a $300,000 bank loan with a $200,000 state grant.
What comes next
The new facility gives the Patterson Park Academy of Music a permanent address for instruction and community programming in a neighborhood experiencing rapid economic and demographic change. Espinoza and Franklin have signaled that the space will support growth for the academy as it seeks to expand services and strengthen ties to the surrounding community.
The project illustrates a broader pattern of adaptive reuse where small cultural enterprises repurpose older buildings—sometimes ones with complicated pasts—into community assets. In this case, a building once associated with illegal activity has been converted into a site for arts education, with public funds helping to bridge the financial gap.
Organizers and attendees at the ribbon cutting framed the new location as more than a business move: it represents an investment in neighborhood culture and a practical step toward making music education more accessible to local families.
