March 6th, 2020 by WCBC Radio

 A letter to the editor appearing in Thursday’s Cumberland Times News from the Mayor and City Council expressing a desire to repurpose the former Carver School Building. For several months now a small group of citizens have been asking the city officials to look into what happened to an effort that began in the early 2000’s to renovate the building into a multi purpose community center. For two decades now the building has sat vacant and is now badly deteriorated. According to the letter, the Mayor and City Council are committed to assist in the reopening of the Carver Center and to help organize a new working committee of community leaders to develop a sustainable operating plan and assemble funding to repair the building for those purposes. The city has confirmed that the grant funds used to renovate and reopen the building as the Carver Center in 2004 were appropriately administered. The city is in the process of securing the building and will be providing public safety and security until new development plans are finalized. Mayor Ray Morriss addressed the situation during a recent public meeting…  

The city announced that a group of citizens have been identified as able and willing to assist Bonnie Austin of the Carver Center Board in reactivating the Carver Center’s 501C3 status and developing a plan to reopen the facility: Eugene Frazier, city councilman; Carmen Jackson, Allegany County Chapter NAACP; David Caporale,  Allegany County commissioner; Deb Frank, Allegany County Board of Education; Matt Miller, Cumberland Economic Development Corp.; Courtney Thomas Winterburg, Allegany County Department of Social Services; Mandela Echefu, Western MD Health System; Deidre Ritchie, Canal Place Development Authority Heritage Area; Julie Westndorff Nixon, Allegany Arts Council; David Smith, community leader.