After five years and hundreds of meetings, the City of Annapolis and its partners officially broke ground on an $88 million project to protect City Dock from coastal flooding, offer better public access, and improve the visitor experience.
At a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday, Nov. 3, one day before Annapolis elects a new mayor, outgoing Mayor Gavin Buckley moved forward with the City Dock Resiliency and Revitalization Project. While Buckley acknowledged the city is still waiting for a crucial $33 million Hazard Mitigation grant from FEMA, work is moving ahead on the plans to improve the “economic and community heart of Annapolis,” he said.
The new City Dock will include a raised waterfront park built with floodgates, deployable and barriers to mitigate storm surge and tidal flooding… a frequent issue for City Dock and its surrounding businesses. On opening day of the Annapolis Powerboat Show on Oct. 2, 2025, crews worked to pump ankle-deep water from boat show exhibitor tents over the seawall and back into Ego Alley. On Oct. 30, a coastal storm system brought 4 feet of water to City Dock and closed multiple streets for hours.
Speaking at the groundbreaking, Maryland Del. Dana Jones (D-30A) wore waterproof boots with her business attire and didn’t mince words about the recent flooding. “This was not a once-in-a-generation storm surge,” she pointed out, noting that Annapolis businesses are forced to close at least a couple of times a year, and often, it’s not because of a severe storm. She lamented having to explain “sunny day flooding” to her constituents. Looking forward to the completion of the flood mitigation project, she said, “I can’t wait to get out of these rubber boots!”
The new flood-fighting measures will stretch from Compromise Street on one side to the U.S. Naval Academy on the other side for an uninterrupted prevention.
The project also includes the restoration of the Burtis House, an 1890s waterman’s cottage that is one of the last reminders of City Dock’s important historic role in commercial seafood. “The Burtis family was the embodiment of working Annapolitans,” said Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-MD 3rd). “That story deserves to be told loudly and proudly as we preserve this house and make it a centerpiece.”
In an early phase of the project, Preservation Maryland and its partners worked to stabilize the building. Next, Buckley says, the house itself will be moved for archaeological excavation. Then, it will be turned into a Maritime Welcome Center to house the Annapolis Harbormaster and Visit Annapolis & Anne Arundel. It will offer transient boaters restrooms, package delivery, and workspaces.
The City Dock project will also improve public water access with community amenities like shade areas, promenades, and a new park at the end of Prince George Street, to be named in honor of the late Blacks of the Chesapeake founder Vince Leggett. Visit Annapolis Director Kristen Pironis calls City Dock “the front door of the Chesapeake Bay”, pointing out that the best tourism driver is making people feel good about a place. “I don’t feel too good standing in a parking lot but I feel pretty good standing in a park,” she said.
The project is expected to take three years, which means some Annapolis traditions will have to adjust during construction. The beloved Tug of War across Spa Creek, pitting Annapolis and Eastport neighbors against each other in good-natured competition, will take place on land this Saturday, on the Eastport side.
Annapolis Boat Shows will need to make changes to the design and building process for the 2026 and 2027 Powerboat and Sailboat shows, but president Mary Ewenson tells us it’s nothing compared to the threat of flooding at the shows year after year. “It’ll be better to work around the construction than to have to put on waders to get through the show!” she says. “We welcome the start of the construction and look forward to its completion.”
Some members of the local business community have been outspoken about the project. Storm Brothers Ice Cream owner Sveinn Storm has one of the businesses hit hardest and most frequently by flooding. During the Oct. 30 high tide, he measured 16 inches of water outside his shop. Storm has been critical of the city’s flood mitigation efforts for years. “Over the past three years Storm Bros. and other Dock Street businesses have had to close well over 100 times due to flooding, either part of the day or all day. This has caused enormous financial hardship to us and our employees who have to be sent home early or have their shifts cancelled altogether,” he recently posted on Facebook.
The owners of Annapolis Marine Art Gallery, mother-daughter duo Kate and Samantha Wilkerson, initially supported the project due to the urgency of the flooding problem. They attended numerous meetings over four years, as the project was delayed by historic preservation concerns and an anonymous lawsuit. The Wilkersons learned that their gallery will spend nine months of the construction process behind a chain-link fence and lose additional parking out front. Samantha Wilkerson tells us, “We are very concerned for what this will do to business. Businesses along Dock Street have already seen a significant dip in revenue due to the construction and removal of parking that has already been taken away closer to the water.”
The revamped and renamed Mills-Hillman Garage has been touted as a parking solution to offset the project, but Samantha says the garage is both more expensive than the Dock Street kiosks and requires drivers to download the ParkMobile app, a challenge for some of the gallery’s elderly customers. When the Wilkersons asked how much of the project budget would be used to help the affected businesses with lost revenue, the city said they don’t anticipate businesses losing revenue.
Annapolis Marine Art Gallery has been in its current location since 1978, and the Wilkersons bought the business in 2022, in the middle of project planning. Samantha says, “As time goes on we get more and more frustrated with how it is all being handled. Had they kept flood mitigation as the main/only plan it probably would’ve been done by now.”
But the city is focusing on the future, when the full project is complete, looking forward to offering outdoor concerts, public space for all, and movies under the stars, along with a flood solution designed to stand the test of time.
