Mt. Washington Tavern Coming Back & Giving Back Brick-By-Brick

BALTIMORE (WJZ)—It's been eight months since an early morning fire destroyed the Mt. Washington Tavern. The Baltimore landmark is now being rebuilt.

Ron Matz reports the brick-by-brick project is helping the community.

Early morning Halloween, fire destroyed the Mt. Washington Tavern.

But progress is now on schedule.

"It's coming along great. We're very fortunate. We had a mild winter with no snow and we had no construction delays at all. We've been working six days a week and we're looking to open the first of November. I couldn't be happier with the progress we've made," said Rob Frisch, owner of the Mt. Washington Tavern.

The tavern will be bigger and brighter than ever.

"It's been tough for seven or eight months, but we're starting to get to a stage where we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The first thing we worried about was our employees, 70 employees. We helped get them get jobs and taking care of them," Frisch said.

Frisch says nearly all of those employees are expected to return.

"They've all bounced back, and they're terrific. They have great attitudes. That's what makes the tavern, the employees," he said.

The tavern brick project will benefit the Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital.

"We've had a great relationship with the tavern for the last 10 to 12 years," said Dr. Richard Katz, medical director of Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital. "They've been incredibly supportive of us. We've been the beneficiary of the proceeds from their golf tournament and other events they've hosted on our behalf."

Customized bricks are $75.

"I hope they sell 10,000 of them. We're actually hoping to sell about a thousand of them, and you can write anything you want within reason on them. It's a great way to help a bunch of children who otherwise could not be helped," Katz said. "This is very cool. This brick project is an opportunity for people to help give back to the community and restore a great building. It's one great community asset helping another."

Some of the tavern's 70 employees got together Tuesday to look to the future.

"We're really trying to re-capture the spirit of the building we used to be in. It's the place we love the most. It's going to be an updated beautiful, beautiful building. The bars are going to be bigger, the space is going to be bigger. We're keeping the sky bar. It's going to be updated, but we're still going to try to be the same old tavern," said Shannon Maddox, manager who worked 19 years at the tavern.

If all goes as planned, the tavern is scheduled to re-open in November.

For more information on the Mt. Washington Tavern brick project, click here.