ORIGIN & FUNCTIONS
Formed by the General Assembly in 1993, the Canal Place Preservation and Development Authority is an instrumentality of the State and a public corporation. The focus of its work is the Cumberland section of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which opened in 1850, and was a major transportation link to and from Western Maryland.
Canal Place Heritage Area, C&O Canal National Historical Park, 13 Canal St., Cumberland, Maryland, July 2006. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
At the Authority's creation in 1993, the General Assembly recognized that the "Chesapeake and Ohio Canal is one of the great historic waterways of the United States extending 185 miles from Georgetown in the District of Columbia to its western terminus in Cumberland, Maryland" (Chapter 544, Acts of 1993; Code Financial Institutions Article, sec. 13-1002). At the same time, the General Assembly authorized the Canal Place Historic Preservation District. In 2001, the District was renamed as the Canal Place Heritage Area in 2001 (Chapter 556, Acts of 2001).
Canal Place Heritage Area, C&O Canal National Historical Park, 13 Canal St., Cumberland, Maryland, July 2006. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
The Canal Place Preservation and Development Authority oversees the preservation, development, and management of the historic Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Heritage Area in Cumberland (Allegany County), Maryland. Through historic preservation, the Authority seeks to transform the area to enhance recreation, commerce, civic life, transportation, education, and the ecology.
Canal Place Heritage Area, C&O Canal National Historical Park, 13 Canal St., Cumberland, Maryland, July 2006. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
The Authority is made up of nine members. Six are appointed to four-year terms by the Governor with Senate advice and consent. Of the remaining three, one represents the Cumberland Mayor and City Council; one, the Maryland Historical Trust; and one, the U.S. Department of the Interior. The Governor names the chair. With the Governor's approval, the Authority appoints the Executive Director who directs and supervises the work of the Authority (Code Financial Institutions Article, secs. 13-1001 through 13-1031).
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