Published: May 25, 2008 12:19 am      

Interim director a ‘bridge of stability’ in new leadership

CUMBERLAND — Early work for Renee Bone and Andy Vick included a tour of the Footer Dye Works Building and conversations with Canal Place Preservation & Development Authority staff and board members.

Bone, appointed Tuesday by Gov. Martin O’Malley as the board’s interim executive director, and Vick, who will take over as chairman of the board July 1, appear to have a busy itinerary in coming weeks as they evaluate the authority’s management plan, leases and other documents.

In a discussion Friday with the Times-News, Bone addressed the authority’s working relationship with the Canal Place shop owners, elected officials and the general public; the condition of the Footer Dye Works building; the existing board and the search for a permanent executive director; and a replacement for Administrative Officer Michele Crabtree, who retires May 31.

Western Maryland manager for the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, her duties there have been largely taken over by others while she helps the Canal Place transition to the new leadership. DBED Secretary David Edgerley on Tuesday referred to Bone as a “bridge of stability.”

Bone could be the right person to fill that gap. She has been in the area for her entire life. Bone, 34, was born in Cumberland and grew up in Allegany and Garrett counties. She is a graduate of Beall High School and Frostburg State University. She began working for DBED out of college and spent more than four years as a regional development representative, helping existing businesses to succeed and, if possible, expand.

Bone said she recognized the sacrifice of shop owners, especially ones such as Margy Pein, owner of The Tree House Toy Shop since May 2003, and realized they need to be included in future plans for Canal Place.

“I understand there’s a perception the shop owners and the public hasn’t been involved,” Bone said, adding she wants to ensure those stakeholders “have a seat at the table.”

“It’s just incredible (that) those folks down there really took a chance in coming in at the front end of this project,” she said.

This week’s tour of the Footer Dye Works Building yielded a surprising result. Through personal relationships and media accounts of officials’ perspectives, Bone said she figured the building was ready to fall down. However, that wasn’t her first impression.

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” Bone said. “The main building seems to be in pretty good shape.”

She didn’t comment specifically on the historic sawtooth portion of the building. She did, though, compare the building to the Lyric Building on East Main Street in Frostburg. That building was damaged by fire before being bought and renovated by Washington-based developer Michael Joy. The building now houses a combination of luxury apartments and retail space.

She said she hadn’t seen the 1996 engineering report, touted by Howard Buchanan, current board chairman, as reason the building must come down or the 2006 report summarized by Kevin Brandt of the National Park Service, which indicates the building could be saved.

“I just thought, ‘Wow, there’s more there than there was when that project was started in Frostburg,’” Bone said.

The board will decide when and how to pursue a permanent executive director, she said. It will be the board members who decide whether to update the management plan and begin the search or hire a new director before making recommendations to the plan. Any plan “needs to be flexible” and consider the financial constraints the board operates under.

The board will set the priority for “what piece we need to complete next,” but she’s hoping the C&O Canal can finish being rewatered. She also said it’s “very important” for the railroad tunnel or bridge — whichever engineering experts determine more feasible — to move forward.

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.