For more than 100 years, the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower has marked the Baltimore skyline, its four massive clock faces keeping watch over Lombard Street as horse-drawn carriages made way for streetcars and automobiles.

The tower, commissioned by drugmaker Isaac Edward Emerson, has suffered its share of wear and tear over that time. A massive rotating Bromo Seltzer bottle that once adorned the top caused structural damage. The tower’s clocks for a period stopped working, though they were restored through a campaign mounted by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts.

Now it’s time for the rest of the exterior to get a facelift. Officials with Baltimore’s Department of General Services requested $1.2 million in next year’s capital budget to restore the 289-foot building’s facade. If approved, the money would become available after July.

What remains unclear is who will actually control the work. BOPA, the city-backed nonprofit which has managed the tower for years, has, of late, been in a tailspin. After years of escalating tensions over the high-profile events the group mounts on the city’s behalf, leaders revealed in September BOPA had become financially insolvent.

The city ended its contract. A cascade of resignations followed. The group’s interim CEO sought to reassure the public last week that a slimmed-down BOPA was ready to right the ship. But that message also came as the organization announced it would no longer be managing Top of the World in the World Trade Center; a property, like Bromo, where the group had a long-term lease.

Annie Applegarth, senior director of facility operations at BOPA, said plans for the Bromo restoration are proceeding despite the uncertainty.

“Everything can go to the wind, but my understanding is we are still working with the city,” she said. “We are still managing the Bromo Seltzer Tower, and at this particular moment they have not made a decision on whether it will stay with BOPA or go to the city or a combination of both.”

Mayor Brandon Scott’s office said BOPA is “currently” maintaining oversight of the tower. The mayor’s office and BOPA are working together to develop plans to manage it and other properties going forward, his staff said.

The recent upheaval has set the Bromo project back a bit. The fiscal year 2025 budget, which became effective in July, included $250,000 for design work on the tower. However, BOPA did not begin the work, general services officials told the planning commission at a recent meeting.

“Unfortunately, for some reason they have not started the process,” said Marwan Alkarajat, chief of General Services’ capital projects division. “BOPA was responsible for executing their projects and because of the whole situation going on with BOPA, that thing did not move forward.”

Berke Attila, director of General Services, said this week he’s committed to getting the renovations done, whatever the arrangement ends up being.

“It’s needs to be repaired,” he said. “We need to get the design and construction money ready. Hopefully, there’s going to be a better administrative structure in place that we could hand off to the partner, but the work is the work.”

Built over a four-year span, the Bromo Seltzer Tower opened in 1911 at the corner of Lombard and Eutaw streets. Originally connected to the Emerson Drug Company, which had its headquarters and manufacturing operation below, the tower was then topped with a 51-foot glowing, rotating replica of a Bromo Seltzer bottle. The bottle, likely a culprit for some of the structural issues the building faces today, was removed in 1936.

In the mid-2000s, the 15-story tower came under BOPA’s management and was retrofitted into creative space for city artists. Today, the tower hosts exhibitions, receptions and performances.

In 2017, BOPA completed a $1.9 million rehabilitation of the building’s clocks, which face each of the four cardinal directions. Since then, several BOPA-hired consultants have also examined the building’s masonry facade, Applegarth said.

Those assessments were preliminary surveys, said Jackson Gilman-Forlini, historic preservation officer for general services. The new design work being pursued will include more detailed plans and specifications, he said.

Based on the preliminary assessments, the building will need roofing work and repairs to its architectural terra cotta. The building’s cast iron frame is showing signs of rust, and that needs to be halted, Gilman-Forlini said. Scaffolding is already in place to protect pedestrians should anything come loose from the top of the building, he said.

Although funding for the design work has been approved, General Services is waiting to begin the process until money is approved for the actual facade improvements, said Alkarajat. The final price tag could increase once the design work is completed, officials said.

Attila said there are still many unknowns with BOPA and the city, but nonetheless, the work must be done.

“We want to be ready to do the work. Whether it’s through a third party associated partner or us, that can come down the road,” he said. “By the time we’re ready to do that, hopefully this whole situation will be resolved.”