Students from West Virginia University (WVU) are bringing fresh ideas to community revitalization efforts in Allegany County. Through a partnership with the WVU Landscape Architecture Program, the City of Cumberland, and Allegany County Economic and Community Development (ACECD), the Wills Creek corridor in Cumberland, Maryland, has been the focus of a student-led design project to consider its potential as a central connector for the city and a catalyst for economic prosperity.Wills Creek, a 38.6-mile-long tributary of the North Branch Potomac River, has long been both an asset and a challenge for the city of Cumberland. Concrete walls added in the 1950s to mitigate flooding have effectively protected the area but also created a physical barrier between the east and west sides.Supported by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the project focuses on improving Wills Creek’s role in the community, examining how environmental and social design could create new opportunities for businesses, residents, and visitors.The initiative, led by Dr. Stefania Staniscia, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture in WVU’s School of Design and Community Development, gave senior students in the landscape architecture program an opportunity to apply their expertise to real-world challenges while encouraging fresh perspectives on how the creek might be used in the future. This valuable offering from WVU allows landscape architecture students to apply their skills to real-world community design challenges.One of those students, Erik Moses, saw the project as an exciting opportunity to put his skills to use. “At first glance, Wills Creek is almost like a scar through the city, but if you look at it in a new way, it could be the new central vein that flows life into Cumberland,” he notes about the corridor. His team proposed a multipurpose, mixed-use green corridor emphasizing accessibility, livability, and tourism. Their design also considered ways to connect existing and proposed urban green spaces along the creek. Moses and his team emphasized strengthening the connection between both sides of the creek and downtown Cumberland to the east, as well as between the creek and the GAP Trail to the west. 

The project known as the River Park at Canal Place Trails and Trail Connections has been earmarked for $6 million through direct federal funding. The omnibus spending appropriations bill that funds the federal government for the next nine months was signed into law on December 30 and includes funding for over $35 million for projects across Western Maryland, which represents a large portion of the $200 million secured for the State of Maryland at large."I view the River Park at Canal Place project as another way to promote Allegany County's diverse outdoor recreational economy" said Canal Place Preservation & Development Authority Executive Director Deidra "Dee Dee" Ritchie. "The park will help foster community revitalization, enhance water quality, create jobs, support economic growth and diversification and offer new opportunities for people to connect with the natural environment."Ritchie also recognized the role that federal legislators representing the region played. She states "I cannot thank our Federal, District 6 Legislators (Senators Cardin and Van Hollen, and Congressman Trone) enough for securing this money for our area. The initial river park discussions began over 20 years ago. And now here we are."