Art collector to open gallery - with cafe & snowballs - in Towson

There's a 99-year-old building in downtown Towson that's been under construction and is set to get a very creative new life.

It's a former auto shop on a tucked-away stretch of East Susquehanna Avenue near York Road. The street ends at Towson Manor Park.

Rachel Rabinowitz, an art collector who bought the property several years ago, is planning to turn the former auto shop into an art gallery - complete with a coffee shop and snowball stand.

Rabinowitz runs Guerrilla company, which includes Guerrilla Realty and Guerrilla Construction - which has "a mill shop, where they make cabinetry and wood trim."

Now, the 17,000-square-foot building at 30 E. Susquehanna Avenue will become Guerrilla's headquarters, and the site of a 2,000-square-foot "guerrilla gallery."

The gallery aims to "showcase established artists in the Baltimore and Washington region... Both formal and visionary, we look forward to welcoming audiences and supporting the careers of artists we admire."

Rabinowitz, who worked at auction houses and galleries, said it will focus on contemporary, living artists who are mid-career.

"We have an interest in supporting people who have been at it for a while," she said.

There will also be a coffee shop and snowball stand - which Rabinowitz said is largely aimed at the nearby Towson Manor Park.

She didn't have too many details on the cafe, but said it would be "quiet, community-oriented." And, she has "a handshake deal with a very beloved player in the snowball business in Towson."

"It seemed like something the park could use," she said.

Rabinowitz hopes to move into the building by the end of the year and launch the business next spring or summer.

Transforming the site has meant a lot of demolition, and environmental issues related to its former use for auto repair.

"This building is a good example of adaptive reuse," she noted.

We are also looking for it to be a destination in the community... It's a big investment in the community, but we certainly believe in everything going on in Towson