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Valves controlling steam heat for Zion Lutheran Church, Baltimore City Fire Department Headquarters and the Peale Museum are located beneath Sonar nightclub on East Saratoga St. Along with other officials, the President of the City Council convinced the club's landlord to allow the steam provider access to the valves. (VoB Photos/Anthony C. Hayes)

I got f’sssssteam heat,
I got f’sssssteam heat,
…but I need your love
to keep away the cold.
—‘The Pajama Game’

ICY  IMPASSE  BROKEN
AS PUBLIC OFFICIALS
WARM  THINGS  UP

Council Pres. Young & others
ride to Zion Church’s rescue

By Anthony C. Hayes

An icy impasse in the effort to restore heat to Zion Church of Baltimore was finally broken this week when an access agreement was reached between steam supplier Veolia Energy and JBL Real Estate, owner of the adjacent Sonar nightclub property through which the church’s steam pipes run.

The church had not had heat — specifically steam heat — since mid-October.

Baltimore City’s Fire Department Headquarters, located in the same block of East Lexington Street as the church, had also been without heat for several weeks, as was the Peale Museum, located next door to the church on Holliday Street, less than a block from City Hall.

Parishioners, who sat bundled up for a chilly Reformation Day service just over a week ago, ^[2] were assisted in getting the heat turned back on by representatives from the Mayor’s Office, the office of the City Council President, and the Downtown Partnership, a quasi-public nonprofit corporation charged with getting “things done” for downtown Baltimore.

ACCESS AGREEMENT RESTORED HEAT

The access agreement allowed Veolia to restore heat to Zion Lutheran Church and the adjoining Fire Department Headquarters and Peale Museum, all of which obtain their steam from the same source.

In the meantime, Veolia has begun construction to bypass the steam valves which are located in the basement of the Sonar nightclub building on East Saratoga Street, that service the structures in question.

Absent an easement or preexisting access agreement, JBL Real Estate, which recently acquired the Sonar property, had denied Veolia Energy admittance to the Sonar building — demanding a $5,000 “entry fee” which Veolia refused to pay.

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Alley behind Sonar nightclub: Veolia Energy is re-routing steam pipes that run underneath Saratoga St. club to allow unfettered access to the valves.

The standoff left parishioners and firefighters in the cold.

Danielle A. Laurenceau, constituent services coordinator for the Office of City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young, told Voice of Baltimore she arrived at work on Monday to find a number of emails and phone messages from Zion Lutheran’s pastor and parishioners saying the church had no heat.

When she told Young about the messages, Laurenceau said the council president was “shocked and very angry” that such a thing could happen.

At Young’s direction, Laurenceau immediately contacted Zion Church, Veolia Energy and JBL Real Estate to address the problem, and by Wednesday, an agreement was reached whereby the steam began to flow.

Terms of the agreement were not made public.

Rev. Dr. Holger Roggelin, pastor of Zion Church, told the Voice he was “grateful for the efforts” of Laurenceau, along with those of Kevin Slayton, faith based liaison in the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods, and Bob Dengler, vice president of capital projects and constituent services with the Downtown Partnership.

PASTOR SEEMED PERPLEXED OVER ISSUE

Though thankful an agreement was reached, Roggelin seemed perplexed there was ever an issue.

“In the old days,” he said, “before deregulation, there was an implied right of way for the utilities.”

With the heat restored, several scheduled events, including a Thursday morning funeral service and a Sunday evening fundraising concert featuring the University of Virginia Horn Ensemble, were held in the comfort of a warm sanctuary.

Irene Duerr, who heads the Zion Pipe Organ Restoration Project, told VoB, “We were all praying for heat, and we got it.”

The church also got a good turnout for the fundraising concert.

Reflecting on the drama of the last few weeks, Roggelin summed it up by saying: “I hope all the parties involved understand that this was not simply a business dispute but that real people were affected.

READ VoB’S EARLIER ACCOUNT OF THE STEAM SHUTOFF  (click here) ^[2]

Tony Hayes may be contacted at mypoetrypage@yahoo.com

Editor’s Note:  The Adler & Ross show tune “Steam Heat” from the 1954 Broadway musical “The Pajama Game” was recorded by Patti Page later that year and covered by the Pointer Sisters two decades hence (in 1974).