Anyone have any issues with the middle of the belt being chewed out?

Hmmm...you may have a rodent having a snack, LOL...
What brand of belt & how old is it?
Belts can wear and snap in the middle too. Check the tensioner & all pulleys, free turning, and no wobbly stuff going on.
Ensure belt is tight and that the tensioner is working.
Get a good quality EPDM belt= Gates, tougher, long life belts.

I installed the belt in Jan, but had issues, and never drove it. the belt has less than 50 miles on it and I have little shards of rubber all over that area. I'm wondering what might have rubbed it all off.

What issues? Is a pulley seized?

First was the head gasket,

Then the pulley was bad,

the the new belt broke in 2 ( https://www.gmforum.com/1992-1999-91...n-belt-307734/

Now I think I have bad gas, because it'* been sitting for 1.5 year and runs like ***, and the alternator may be bad.

A little more and I'm sticking a fork in it.

Don't feel bad.
With the exception of the head gasket, I have had to do all of the above and 5 x more to my ole Pk Ave and then some, to keep it up to speed.
Re the old fuel, try to get some ethanol stabilizer and add that to the fuel.
The best stuff is called star tron, a marine product made by star-brite.
Star Tron Enzyme Fuel Treatment Gas Additive Small Engine