Jan. 6—CUMBERLAND — Canal Place and Preservation Authority officials are seeking to hire a project coordinator to further plans for a proposed $30 million river park project.

The proposed park, which has been in development since about 2010, would be located behind Canal Place at the confluence of the North Branch Potomac River and Wills Creek. The attraction would include a moderate whitewater course, docks for canoes and kayaks, walking trails and a viewing area.

The plan includes the removal of the industrial/flood control dam constructed in the 1950s beneath the Blue Bridge that connects Cumberland and Ridgeley, West Virginia. Removal of the dam would require the approval of the Army Corps of Engineers, which administers the flood control system.

Dee Dee Ritchie, Canal Place executive director, said nearly $8 million in grants have been secured for the project, including funds to pay a project coordinator’s salary.

“We have money to do things; we just need to get the coordinator in place,” Ritchie said Friday. “The sooner we get them hired the better.”

Advocates of the river park say the attraction would be a boon for the Cumberland area.

To date, an implementation plan, boundary survey and property owner identification survey have been completed. Ritchie said an economic impact study, which will estimate the financial impact a river park would have on the community, has been ordered.

Ritchie said a design build plan will also be ordered this year. “This would allow the whole thing to be engineered and permitted at the same time and reduce the time and steps,” said Ritchie.

Canal Place is located in the Passages of the Western Potomac Heritage Area, a state recognized designation. Ritchie hopes to have the entirety of Allegany County included in the designation, further increasing grant opportunities.

Current funding for the proposed River Park includes $6 million in a federal earmark for trails, $1.5 million in state funding and $700,000 in grants from the city of Cumberland and Allegany County. The river project also has a grant in reserve from the Maryland Heritage Area Authority for sediment testing.

State Sen. Mike McKay said securing any additional money from Maryland will be difficult due to the state’s current budget deficit.

“We are not asking the state this year for additional money for it,” said McKay. “We articulated to them that in the state of Maryland things are so tight that if you are trying to get this done in the next couple years there is going to be no money from the state for that.”

McKay gave the example of the $3.3 billion in budget cuts announced in early December from the state’s five-year Consolidated Transportation Plan.

The senator said he supports the overall idea behind the attraction but has concerns with the viability of the different hurdles that must be overcome.

“It sound like the (river) project is morphing to be a river access project more than a (river) walk,” said McKay. “They don’t have the answer of how to put a walkway along the (flood control) levy that was built by the Army Corps. That is all flood control stuff.”

McKay also has concerns with water flow and temperature changes once the dam is removed.

“I think we are many years to this coming to fruition,” he said. “In Annapolis, you have to have shovel ready projects, otherwise it is difficult to get any funding. I don’t believe the funding is there to make it go forward at this point.”

Greg Larry is a reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. To reach him, call 304-639-4951, email glarry@times-news.com and follow him on Twitter @GregLarryCTN.