Sale of Dumas Center stirs debate over future ownership

ROANOKE, VA – The non-profit Total Action for Progress announced Monday it is selling the historic Dumas Center in Roanoke.

The building is listed for just over $1 million.

TAP says it is selling in order to pay off outstanding loan debt, and its realtor says it already has several offers.

But several people in the community want to add a different offer to the table.

Since the 1920's, the Dumas Center, then called the Dumas Hotel on Henry Street, was a center of the African-American community.

During segregation, it was one of the only places for African-Americans to go for entertainment.

And it's by laying claim to that history that a group representing the Black community of Roanoke says it should be given the opportunity to buy the building.

In a letter Monday, TAP President Annette Lewis explained the sale of the historic Dumas Center saying "Many times throughout its history, TAP has taken on a program... nurtured its development and growth, and then handed it over to capable hands. We feel that now is the right time to do that with the Dumas."

But after hearing that news, dozens of people came out to a meeting Monday night at Saint Paul's Methodist Church to say those capable hands are all around.

"There exists in our community the capacity to purchase this building. What this is about is bringing our community together and collectively deciding how we're going to do that," said organizer Martin Jeffrey.

Jeffrey says their  argument is that TAP secured grants to renovate the building based on it being an African-American heritage site.

"It allowed the community that it used, whose history it used, to raise the 4.7 million dollars," said Jeffrey.

TAP was originally given the building by the City of Roanoke, and in addition to that $4.7 million, spent more than $800 thousand of its own money on restoration.

But now that its up for sale, some at the meeting felt slighted that TAP didn't come to them first.

"It's hurtful to me to see this come back again, without offering it to everybody and we had to hear it through the grapevine," said Richard Chubb.

Others were already developing plans for raising the money.

"We're going to design that capital campaign, and do some grant writing," said Andre Peery.

But all of that is a pipe dream if TAP doesn't let them come to the table.

That's something Jeffrey says they plan to fight for.

"We insist on an opportunity to purchase this property. We have earned as a community the right to be able to do that," said Jeffrey.

The group plans to host another meeting next Monday.

TAP and its realtor with Poe and Cronk were invited to the meeting, but did not attend.

At the meeting, members of the group showed photos of a similar effort they made back in 1996 to acquire the building without success.

They hope this time will be different.