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Canal Place Preservation and Development Authority Still Interested In “River Park” Area

December 21st, 2015 by WCBC Radio

Although significantly scaled back from a plan discussed two years ago- the Canal Place Preservation and Development Authority is still interested in creating a “River Park” area. In the summer and fall of 2014, a plan to establish a canoe and kayak launch site on the North Branch of the Potomac River in the vicinity of Canal Place brought federal, state and local officials together to discuss ways to move forward on the project. The concept of taking advantage of the site as a tourism destination was first broached by local businessman George Merling.  Merling owns the property at 100 Beall Street, the former home of Moose Lodge No. 271, and advocated for opening up the river for access. A series of meetings were held to discuss the concept, but in the end it was deemed that there were simply too many challenges with the location. That combined with the volume of agencies involved halted those preliminary talks.  Dee Dee Ritchie, Canal Place executive director, during this month’s regular meeting said the project isn’t completely dead- and there is still interest in taking advantage of the site for tourism opportunities. A request for proposals had been drafted…





 

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