Visions for Vacancies: The Cider Barrel

What would you do with this vacant roadside stand?

The Cider Barrel's massive red, white and blue barrel was meant to lure drivers to the Prohibition-era roadside stand for freshly pressed cider, a visual that probably made sense when the East Germantown horizon was still evocative of rural countryside. Now, the big bulky barrel is an anachronism. The Cider Barrel, which is part of the Maryland Historic Trust Inventory of Historic Sites, has been empty for almost a decade, and there's growing concern over the vacant building's fate. The site made Preservation Maryland’s 2012 Most Endangered List. The nonprofit organization publishes a list of historic places in Maryland whose fates are uncertain, sites nominated by concerned preservationists. The Germantown Historical Society, which …

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