ROANOKE, Va. – A community group in Roanoke is threatening legal action against the non-profit Total Action for Progress, or TAP. The Dumas Hotel Legacy, Inc. says TAP may be illegally trying to sell the historic Dumas Center to an anonymous third party, and it's hired a lawyer to investigate.
A crowd gathered at the Martin Luther King bridge Monday, where group organizer Martin Jeffrey criticized TAP for cutting off negotiations.
"Historically, the community action agency has been the advocate. Economic, social, cultural advocate for African-American communities, not the gatekeeper to keep the African-American community out," Jeffrey said.
Jeffrey says, after he and hundreds of others spent months raising money to buy the building, he believes TAP has other motives.
"Why would TAP do what it's doing the way that it's doing it? The only thing that really looks clear to us is that it has to do with who the people are that are on the other side of the table trying to buy it, and that's the black community," Jeffrey said.
WSLS got TAP President Annette Lewis on the phone Monday, and asked if race had anything to do with it.
"Any and all communications that TAP has had with individuals or parties interested in the Dumas... Have been open, above board and ethical," Lewis said.
Jeffrey says there's also a concern that someone paying more than a million dollars for the building, might have more commercial incentives.
"It could likely be a developer, and a developer would only want this property to be developed," Jeffrey said.
The Dumas Legacy group fears that could mean condos or apartments, which Jeffrey says would violate the deed of the building. Lewis wouldn't go into detail, but says the building's integrity will remain the same.
"When that building was given to TAP, it was going to be demolished. TAP has restored it to a state of the art facility... the rich history of the Dumas will remain the same," Lewis said.
The group also announced Monday that an online petition is calling for Roanoke to cut off funding for TAP if it won't continue negotiations.
"I'm hoping to start a paper petition as well. The one that I started was online and we got, generated over 100 signatures. Just imagine what we can get from the people who don't do online," said Jamice Rudd, who wrote the petition.
Now, after months of work fundraising and looking at its options, the group says the ball is in TAP's court.
"We're looking for the responses to the FOIA request and to the demand letter, then we will determine with our lawyers what our other options are," Jeffrey said.
The Dumas Legacy group says it hopes not to have to go to court, but that TAP decides to come back to the negotiating table. That's something TAP has not given any indication is likely to happen.