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26-Acre Site to become New Home of the Allegany Campers
On Thursday, September 06, 2012, members of the Board of Education, the Western Maryland Health System, and the City of Cumberland attended the closing on the transfer of the WMHS’s Braddock Campus to the Board of Education. The 26-acre site will be used by the public school system as the site for the construction of the new Allegany High School.
“It is very exciting to be another step closer to a new Allegany High School. We are very appreciative to the Western Maryland Health System and the City of Cumberland for working so diligently with us to acquire this excellent site to build our new high school,” said Dr. David Cox, Superintendent of Schools.
The health system’s original intent was to sell the site for economic development purposes that would benefit the region; however, there was little interest in the site once the economic recession hit.
“The opportunity to use the site for the new high school was consistent with our objective to use the property to benefit the community,” explained Barry Ronan, President and CEO of WMHS. “We are very pleased that the property will be the site of the new high school.”
Grimm & Parker Architects completed a comprehensive feasibility study on the systems and facilities of the site which included the evaluation of the existing structures on the Braddock Campus site and their potential for reuse. The consultant’s final recommendation to the school board was to build a new facility on the existing site, recommending that the existing hospital and ancillary buildings will be demolished to make way for the new school and athletic fields.
The Allegany High School project received approval for planning from the Maryland Board of Public Works and the Public School Construction Program earlier this year. The new school will have a capacity of 857 students. Design is scheduled to begin in November.
Pictured: (front) Sara-Beth James, School Board President; Barry Ronan, President and CEO of WMHS; Mike McKay, President of Allegany County Commissioners; (back) Dr. David Cox, Superintendent of Allegany County Public Schools; Laurie Marchini, school board member; Bill Valentine, County Commissioner; Dr. Ed Root, school board member.
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