Maryland Deaf Community Center buys property to build new facility

Aug. 20—There's an expression in American Sign Language in which people place their two index fingers at their mouth, then point them up at the sky.

It translates to "Pah!" in English — or "Finally!"

That word sums up how Linda Stoltz, president of the Maryland Deaf Community Center, and other members of Frederick's Deaf and Hard of Hearing community have been feeling lately.

On Friday morning, the nonprofit closed on the purchase of a 1.7-acre property to create a new center on North East Street, beside Rockwell Brewery.

When the center opens — which Stoltz hopes will be in about two years — the nonprofit says it will become a place where Deaf and Hard of Hearing people will be able to access resources, socialize, get advice and find community.

"It's about time. I'll tell you, it's about time," Stoltz signed in an interview as an interpreter translated. "The Deaf community has really been fighting for a very long time."

Last fall, the Maryland Deaf Community Center opened its first physical location in the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association building on Aviation Way. It was the first community center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in the state.

For four months, the office gave the nonprofit a space to hold game nights, offer sign language classes and provide workshops. Deaf seniors gathered at the center to talk and play cards. The Eastern Motorcycle Club for the Deaf hosted a holiday party there.

But in January, the nonprofit was notified that American Sign Language Interpreter Corps — the business it was partnering with to rent the space — had gone bankrupt. Again, the organization was without a home.

The following month, Stoltz and other members of the nonprofit's board of directors met with Ron Young, a state senator representing Frederick County. They told him about the Maryland Deaf Community Center and what it could offer to the state, if it had a physical space.

"He just made that comment of, 'We will help you,'" Stoltz said. "And that was enough to get everything going."

With Young's support, the nonprofit received a $2.5 million grant from the state to help it establish a community center.

The property the nonprofit purchased on Friday cost $1.4 million, Stoltz said. It currently houses three buildings, including an old red farmhouse with wooden paneling.

Initially, the nonprofit planned to renovate the farmhouse for the center, she said. But after inspectors took a look at the structure, the board of directors decided it would make more sense to demolish the buildings and start from scratch.

Larry Cohen, treasurer for the Maryland Deaf Community Center, said he doesn't think any of the property's neighbors will mind.

"It's been kind of an eyesore for the community for a while — just left sitting here, really doing nothing," he signed as an interpreter translated. "And now, it's going to be a nice, brand-new building that's going to do something good for the community."

The nonprofit has hired an architect to draw up plans for the center. The building will include a conference room, classrooms for sign language classes and a big multipurpose room, where people will be able to socialize and participate in workshops and other activities, Stoltz said.

The Maryland Deaf Community Center also received $500,000 from the city of Frederick for the center. The money will help the nonprofit make sure the building meets Americans with Disability Act standards, Stoltz said, including having automatic doors, a ramp and flashing lights throughout the building for visual fire alarms.

The nonprofit is also working with the state to secure continuous funding for the center, to ensure it will be able to stay open, Cohen said. It will be receiving additional grant money to hire a full-time director for the facility, Stoltz said.

With one campus for the Maryland School for the Deaf off South Market Street and Gallaudet University nearby in Washington, D.C., Frederick has a huge Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. And it's growing, Stoltz said.

The Maryland Deaf Community Center would love to see more resources come to the area to serve the population, Cohen said. He pointed to other states, where there are nursing homes and rehabilitation centers specifically for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people.

"This is really the first step in all that long process," he said of the community center.

Follow Angela Roberts on Twitter: @24_angier