Frederick Road Renaissance: Iconic Music Store Reborn

A year ago, the corner of Frederick Road and Bloomsbury Avenue looked, well, a bit tired.

The old Dixon sign building at 701 Frederick Road had yet to be reincarnated as the . had not moved to the opposite side of the street at 640 Frederick Road.

But in the past year, both of those corners have seen a rebirth, and the owners of , a family-owned business that has been on Frederick Road for 50 years, took notice.

Emory and Charlene Knode, owners of the landmark acoustic stringed instrument retailer, decided to reinvest in the exterior of the building, which has stood as a testament to Catonsville's reputation as "Music City, Maryland" since 1960.

"It needed it," Emory Knode said of the renovations. "With the new sidewalk and all of the other businesses investing in their properties, it was important to keep the community looking like it was progressing."

Construction crews also re-paved Bloomsbury Avenue and added new sidewalks, which made construction on the Knodes' building tricky but also emphasized the need to improve the exterior.

Just before Christmas, all of the renovations on the exterior of the building were complete, including a refurbished sign, new siding, roof, lighting, paint and other improvements.  New windows were installed on Bloomsbury Avenue, which allowed for more displays of the store's instruments.

The interior of the building has been renovated since Emory's father purchased the building and opened the store, but the exterior of the building hasn't undergone many improvements, he said.

All of the work was completed by , which is also a family-owned Catonsville business.

Greg Wall managed the project for the prominent local business.

"It was really nice to see him step up and do 100 percent renovation and not just a partial one," said Wall, whose company also did the exterior renovations to last year.

The renovation unearthed a lot of history and quirks about the building, which included finds like portions of an older cedar shake roof. The roof that Wall to Wall instruction installed is slate.

"We had no idea that existed under there," Wall said.

Wall has noticed the renaissance on Frederick Road as well. Although retail shops make up a small percent of his overall business, he said as a Catonsville resident he is glad to see this type of investment from business owners.

"You walk this strip of [Frederick Road] and everything looks nice," he said.