image description

Canal Place Tourism Project Facing State Funding Questions

January 19th, 2012 by WCBC Radio

The Canal Place tourism project is facing state funding questions after struggling for years to achieve its goals. Maryland House Appropriations Committee Chairman John Bohanan has asked the project's governing board whether it wants to remain a state agency. The Canal Place Preservation & Development Authority receives more than $500,000 a year from the state. The legislature established the authority in 1993. Supporters hoped the project at the western end of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal would anchor economic growth in downtown Cumberland just as the Inner Harbor has boosted the fortunes of downtown Baltimore. But just three of the nine storefronts at Canal Place are occupied. And last week Renee Bone, the authority's executive director announced she is resigning for undisclosed reasons.  Cumberland City Councilman Nick Scarpelli said a process is now underway to establish more attainable goals with bench marks in place to monitor its performance….





Leave a Reply