No, I'm not talking about your neighborhood teenagers. This article is about the Brood X cicadas that have swarmed throughout the East Coast, with the most concentrated in and around Maryland, DC, Northern Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Many cicadas appear annually and on many other cycles, but this infamous group is the longest-spanning brood. Seventeen years ago, their mothers deposited eggs along tree stems. After a period of six to ten weeks, the eggs hatched, and the nymphs fell below and tunneled their way about a foot or less underground to suck on tree roots until this year. Once the ground temperature reached 64 degrees (Fahrenheit) for at least three consecutive days, they crawled out of hibernation. They shed their skins, grew, spread their wings, and began their short life with us, eating and finding mates. Cicadas are among the longest-living insects. However, these cicadas live 99.5% of their existence below ground, so they are only above ground for less than six weeks before they die. Their offspring will return in 2038.

Here are a few other interesting and fun cicada facts:

• The very loud sound we hear is the mating call of the males only, and this can be quite loud, reaching 100 decibels. (This year, we are aware of them literally competing with lawnmowers during our Zoom, WebEx, and RingCentral calls while we work at home.)
  
  
• The insects don’t bite or sting, and they are vegan, eating mostly tree sap. This actually helps to prune older trees, so insecticides are not needed, but some people placed netting over very immature trees (and any smaller, shrub-like co-workers who don’t move too fast).
  
  
• Cicadas are edible and apparently taste like shellfish. (Seriously, the FDA even says those with shellfish allergies should avoid eating them.) 
  
  
• The exact number of Brood X cicadas is not known, but it is estimated to be in the billions, which explains why no matter how many we see squashed on the ground or eaten by birds and other predatory animals, even our pets, millions and millions will survive.
  
  
• Despite bumping into us and our cars, cicadas are NOT blind... In fact, they have three additional eyes! However, their vision is very low, probably limited to 6 inches. (Keep this in mind in relation to Section 508 regulations.)
  
  
• Cicadas are not locusts, so we are not experiencing an apocalypse. There is no need to cash in your 401(k).

I wrote this article, the final word on cicadas, for the latest edition of the SeKON Enterprise employee newsletter. (Photo by Paul Kilmon.)

When he first saw the project in 1990, architect Brian Kelly “could hardly wait to get his hands” on the building. Today, after three years of research, design and construction, Orchard Street Methodist Church is once-again a place to be revered. 

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976, Orchard Street Church has a proud history. Designed in 1882 by noted Baltimore architect Frank Davis, the Italian-Renaissance style church was immediately considered a landmark and an important cultural center. The oldest African-American church in Maryland, Orchard Street was built by former slaves and is rumored to have been a part of the infamous Underground Railroad, a network of tunnels and hiding places that laid the tracks to freedom for southern slaves. 

Three generations of church buildings were built on the site since 1840; however, the structure was left abandoned for seventeen years. Vandals destroyed windows. The homeless used the building for shelter and built fires inside to keep warm. The building was a sad shell of its former self and an eyesore to the community. Several attempts to renovate the property had failed. Then the Baltimore Urban League, the 68-year-old local affiliate of the National Urban League, acquired the property from the City of Baltimore in 1989 and began work. 

In association with Anthony N. Johns, professor and chairperson of Architecture at Morgan State University, Baltimore architects Kelly Clayton & Mojzisek (KC&M) began renovations in September, 1991. KC&M was in competition with 50 other firms nationwide for the job, but their experience with historic renovations, particularly with church projects, made them well known in the Mid-Atlantic region and an obvious choice for this local project. In business since 1953, the firm has completed several award-winning projects. Their renovation of Corpus Christi Church won a Baltimore Heritage Preservation Award, and the Marine Service Building on Hanover Street won an AIA (American Institute of Architects) award. KC&M was also involved in the $22 million Charlestown Retirement Community. 

KC&M directed the replication and restoration of all materials in the 22,000-square-foot brick building, although time had taken away many clues. Just fragments of the original stained glass was left to replicate. Analysis revealed decorative details created originally from fish oil paint. An artisan, who happened to be a descendant of the original craftsman, was found to help recreate the details. 

The 5,000-foot sanctuary, with its refurbished Arkansas pine wainscoting, cherry railings and balusters and circular stained glass windows, will eventually serve as an African-American cultural center and museum. Excavation into a sub-basement level revealed several artifacts, an old farm well, and part of an underground tunnel, all of which will be incorporated into the museum. 

Looking at the finished project, any visitor should be impressed by how well the Urban League fits into the layout. The bright interior paint colors and rich stained wood convey an energetic, yet cohesive quality. The large, open fellowship hall, located on the first floor of the church beneath the sanctuary, houses the group’s Manpower Program, while the basement beneath the sanctuary and hall was easily deepened to accommodate air and heating units and additional storage space. The Urban League, whose programs include job training, placement, consumer services, AIDS education, teenage pregnancy programs and a literacy center, will also allow neighborhood groups in the surrounding Seton Hill and lower Druid Hill Avenue areas to use its meeting rooms. 

“Designing for handicap accessibility, to service various user groups, and for security were tricky problems to resolve,” admits Kelly. 

The Sunday School annex, originally designed by Francis Tormey and completed in 1903, was adapted to house the administrative and program offices. A double-loaded corridor near the annex entrance, originally used for classrooms, is now being reused as such. The wood flooring and traditional classroom furniture has been preserved. To provide enough offices for staff, a mezzanine level has been added, but much of the original detail of school, like the church itself, has been retained. While the sanctuary and the rest of the church was polychromatic, with stenciling and gold leaf detail, the Sunday School has dark brown trim, a pressed tin ceiling and pastel walls. 

Even the Sunday School’s stage has been preserved. The coffered plaster proscenium arch cornice now frames the activities of the Urban League’s president and board of directors, as the stage has been transformed into a glass-enclosed conference room, with a separately paneled area that serves as the president’s office. 

Urban League president Roger Lyons believes no group could have a better reminder of its heritage. Like the people who traveled the Underground Railroad, the Urban League moved from their small suppressed world in the basement of Mondawmin Mall to the freedom of sanctuary in an urban oasis. Numerous private donors, in addition to funds from the city, state and the Maryland Historic Trust made the project a reality. Future plans call for a vacant lot in front of the church to be landscaped and transformed into a plaza and drop-off point for tour buses. 

On a site where slaves and freed Blacks once worked by torchlight to build their first church, a piece of the past has been saved, thanks to caring civic leaders, engineers, designers and artisans. 

“The great thing about this building is we were able to do it correctly and authentically,” says Kelly. “Because of the preservation effort, it is going to have a higher intrinsic value than anything that could be built.” 

Restored church sanctuary (inset, before restoration)

The Sunday School annex, before restoration

The Sunday School annex, renovated for use as Baltimore Urban League offices

Article and photos reprinted from the Baltimore Engineer magazine, October 1993. I was Editor of the magazine during my time as Publications Manager for The Engineering Society of Baltimore.