The Mace’s Lane Community Center is under construction.
After decades of dreams, years of planning, and a remarkable outpouring of community effort, the Mace’s Lane Community Center is less than a year from completion upon the bones of a landmark of segregation-era education. It will be a vibrant, state-of-the-art hub for families, recreation, and cultural pride.
The project, led by the nonprofit Mace’s Lane Community Center, Inc. (MLCC), represents both preservation and progress. Formed to save the 1952 Mace’s Lane High School building, MLCC’s mission has been to create a space where history, education, and community converge.
From Segregation to Transformation
For nearly two decades, Mace’s Lane High School was Dorchester County’s only such institution for African Americans. Integration in 1969 turned it into a junior high, and it later became a middle school, serving the community until 2004. Though the building fell silent, its alumni refused to let its legacy fade.
In 2017, the Mace’s Lane High School Alumni Association partnered with the Good Shepherd Association to form a steering committee exploring ways to revive the site. A year later, MLCC was incorporated as a nonprofit to Preserve, Inspire, and Empower—a vision soon to take physical form.
In April 2021, after extensive negotiations with the City of Cambridge and community partners, the Dorchester County Council approved a 99-year lease of the building to MLCC for $1, a symbolic step that set the project firmly in motion.
Breaking Ground and Building Momentum
In June 2022, then–Governor Larry Hogan joined local officials for the project’s groundbreaking, praising the determination that had brought it this far. “I know this project is fueled by the pride that this community feels, and by the desire to build an even brighter future for Cambridge.”
Plans unveiled at the ceremony called for a 26,000-square-foot community center anchored by a 16,000-square-foot Boys & Girls Club. The facility will feature a full-size gymnasium that doubles as an auditorium, classrooms, a tech lab, and flexible spaces for programs focused on academics, leadership, and wellness.
A highlight of the project will be the Edythe M. Jolley Museum & Cultural Center, honoring MLHS’s first principal. The museum will preserve the stories of the school’s teachers, students, and leaders who thrived despite segregation’s challenges, linking their legacy to the community’s ongoing pursuit of equity and empowerment.
The community center has doors!
Demolition and Renewal
By early 2023, construction crews began carefully removing deteriorated sections of the old school to prepare for renovation. That fall, Maryland’s U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin announced $1 million in federal funding, helping propel the project toward its $15 million goal.
The road to completion has not been without obstacles, but progress in 2025 has brought the end within reach.
In July 2025, MLCC leaders announced they were lacking only $1.5 million of full funding, crediting partnerships with the city, the state, and organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club of Maryland.
Two months later, the City of Cambridge applied for an $800,000 Community Development Block Grant to help close the remaining gap. City Manager Glenn Steckman said the funds would allow final exterior work, including window and door installation, to be completed by late October. Additional contributions from public and private partners continue to pave the way for the Boys & Girls Club’s anticipated opening in summer 2026.
“I’m hopeful that by this time next year, we’ll see kids inside this historic structure engaged in meaningful programming,” said Cambridge Mayor Lajan Cephas-Bey. “While the museum remains part of the long-term plan, our top priority right now is getting children in the building for after-school programs.”
A Bridge Between Past and Future
The center is expected to serve more than 1,500 young people within a mile of the site. Residents say it will give neighborhood children new opportunities and restore a sense of pride to a historic corner of Cambridge.
“This is more than just a building,” said Cephas-Bey. “It’s about building social infrastructure for our young people, with the help of the Boys and Girls Club of Metropolitan Baltimore.”
The Mace’s Lane Community Center will honor the legacy of Black resilience on Maryland’s Eastern Shore while creating a living space where Cambridge’s youth can learn, grow, and dream—just as generations did in those same halls more than 70 years ago.
