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Footer Dye Works Disagreement

September 27th, 2012 by WCBC Radio

There are two schools of thought when it come to the Footer Dye Works building which sits in the heart of Canal Place in downtown Cumberland: it is an historic treasure that should be preserved and marketed to serve as an anchor and a tourist destination point; or it is a rapidly deteriorating eyesore which serves as a deterrent to growth for the Shops at Canal.  When the Canal Place Preservation and Development Authority voted last week to patch the roof of the structure- it led to board member Mark Widmyer’s resignation- as he believes there is a way the authority could raze the structure instead of spending more money on it. Authority Chair Andy Vick maintains that the Maryland Historical Trust that the building, cannot not be demolished. Canal Place remains an important part of the overall tourism plan in Allegany County- and tourism director Barb Buehl was asked for her opinion as to how the building could be best utilized…





One Response to “Footer Dye Works Disagreement”

  1. September 27, 2012 at 10:24 am, Jerry Lancaster said:

    In the early 1990′s when Station Square was being built the plan being discussed by the Canal Place Authority (and as I remeber, some State involvement) for the future of the Footer Buildingwas:

    The Footer Building was to be renovated and the first floor was to become a museum. The upper floors were to become a hotel of period design.I do not recall the name of the director who was over seeing the construction of Station Square, but he was one of the people from whom I got this information. Apparently, funding for this idea fell by the wayside and support dwindled. I heard nothing more about this plan and Canal Place was built in lieu of the “tentative” plan for the Footer Building.

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