Business owners help reintroduce updated downtown
CUMBERLAND — Downtown Cumberland was bustling over the weekend as the city continued its Rediscover Cumberland Community Celebration, which kicked off Thursday with the area’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Festivities included a parade, live music and local businesses offering deals in an effort to kick off the revitalization of the district.
Less than two years ago, the downtown streets were entirely deconstructed, unpaved and unfit for business to prosper. Now, the bricks have been laid and store-
fronts look as lively as ever.
Locals lined the city’s historic downtown Saturday, a sight not seen since construction began in the area nearly 18 months ago.
One business owner, Dave Love, who runs Azad’s of Cumberland on South Centre Street, said the area’s official reopening is like introducing a “whole new world” to the city and its network of small business owners.
“We’ve not seen downtown like this,” Love said just before Saturday’s festivities. “I wish they’d got it done sooner.”
Matt Miller, executive director of the Cumberland Economic Development Corp., organized Saturday’s festivities to further expose the local businesses to the public and get the word out across the region.
“The entire premise of the project is to increase business sustainability,” Miller said.
According to Miller, the biggest problem facing Cumberland’s downtown is the amount of turnover that it has seen over the years.
“There have been a lot of closures and failed ventures,” said Miller.
Over the last few decades, the need for office space in the downtown area has steadily decreased, namely, in the realm of large banks, which previously dominated the economy and space of the district.
Miller said that the solution for filling much of the vacant space downtown was the revitalization project. Now, many of the vacant buildings have been filled by small businesses and mixed-use spaces like apartments.
“The underlying attraction is the sudden increase in residential opportunities throughout downtown,” Miller said. “You need that regular foot traffic downtown to create commerce.”
According to Allegany County Tourism, 15 new businesses have taken residence downtown while seven more are on the way.
“This project acted as sort of a catalyst to reverse a lot of those trends,” he said.
Azad’s of Cumberland, like other small businesses scattered throughout downtown, had to deal with the lengthy construction process that brought the significant changes to Baltimore Street and beyond.
Many of them saw it as worthwhile due to the potential increase in business expo-
sure in the years to come.
“Since we’ve gotten bricks for a sidewalk, we’ve already seen a drastic change,” said Rhiannon Brown, the owner of the Queen City Creamery Scoop Shop located on the north end of the district on Baltimore Street.
“It was an incredibly rough year to get through,” she said. “But it’s definitely on the upswing.”
Brown said her shop has seen better results in the fall than in the summer due to the finishing touches of construction and increased accessibility.
“We’re on the other side of it, thank goodness,” Brown said.
“Everybody is going to benefit from this,” said Gino Giatras, the owner of the storied Curtis’ Coney Island Famous Weiners on North Liberty Street. Giatras voiced his excitement that Saturday’s festival brought for the district. “This is perfect timing for the upcoming holiday season,”
he said.
With Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cumberland’s annual tree lighting on the horizon, small businesses will have a lot to look forward to in the coming months.
“We have to be very collective in the city now,” Giatras said of the renewed business community downtown.
In order to be sustainable in the future, Giatras thinks that owners need to work as “one unit” to maintain positivity in good and bad times.
The community celebration ended Saturday evening, but Cumberland’s downtown remains open for business and open for enjoyment for years to come.
Baltimore Street will officially open to public street traffic at 8 a.m. Tuesday
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