CAMBRIDGE, Md. - The American Legion Post 91 in Cambridge is about to lose a big part of its funding.
For years, the Legion used the Governor's Hall event space near Sailwinds Park after its building burned down back in 2013. But now, after months of negotiation, renewing the contract for the space has posed new problems for both the Legion and the City of Cambridge.
Commander Tommy Anderson says they rely on both Governor's Hall and American Legion Post 91 to host large gatherings and to pay off bills. Anderson says the Legion's new building can only hold up to 300 people at a time. But Governor's Hall, he says, can host much more people with much bigger returns, costing the Legion about $10,000 in rent to the city. But with the new promenade built next door, the city and the Legion have run out of time renegotiating a contract to include the new property. Instead, Public Works Director Odie Wheeler says City Council has voted to move on and open up the event space for any potential takers.
"Council has elected to go out and request for a proposal," Wheeler said. "I think the council, as much as it would like to see the Legion continue, felt like it needed to be fair to the community and give others in the community an opportunity."
Both Wheeler and Anderson say they're not giving up. Both say they are still talking with each other to get the Legion back at Governor's Hall.
If things work out, Anderson says it will take some time to get things back up and running after their lease officially expires at the end of 2018.
