The City Dock Action Plan is Finally Underway

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After years of study and debate, the ambitious plan proposed by the City Dock Action Committee (CDAC) is officially underway. The Noah Hillman Parking Garage will be totally new and improved in about one year. Mayor Gavin Buckley and CDAC Chair, Eileen Fogerty, are enthusiastic about the progress of the project. The first formal meetings began in 2018 although there have been endless discussions about what do with City Dock dating back decades. The breakthrough was the City of Annapolis and Historic Annapolis coming together and developing a realistic plan of action. It became clear that replacing the Hillman Parking Garage was the first priority. Eileen Fogerty explained the next step, “As soon as the garage has come down the design will go into full force. We expect that by next summer [2023] the design will be completed. Upon completion of the garage, we expect to go into construction on the City Dock.” 

The construction will cause a temporary lack of parking in downtown Annapolis. Fogerty explains that there is a plan in place to help relieve parking issues, “We have alternative mobility options in place. Our message is: Annapolis is open for business. We will use Via On Demand, an app shuttle service, and additional shuttle vans to move people from the stadium parking lot and Park Place to downtown.” Fogerty admits there have been some problems. “Putting the alternative mobility in place has been difficult. Having a website that is up and people can go and learn where to park will make it easier. Once people know their options, I think it will run pretty smoothly.” She emphasizes that parking on City Dock will not be impacted until the new Hillman Garage is complete.

Mayor Buckley was re-elected in November 2021 with a 70 percdent margin of victory. He believes he has a mandate from residents to proceed with the City Dock Action Plan. I recently met with the Mayor over coffee for an hour discussion. He did most of the talking and I did most of the listening. To say he is enthusiastic is an understatement. The Mayor made it clear that he wants the project completed before the end of his term (2025). His goal is to get people to visit downtown and to have access to the water. The City Dock plan is to build a world class public park. The current configuration will lose some parking space in favor of green space. The loss in parking will be made up with additional parking in the new five story Hillman Garage. One of the features of the state-of-the-art garage will be a sun roof to protect automobiles on the top floor. Once completed, Premium Parking, a national company, will operate the garage, manage residential parking, and handle the remaining parking places on City Dock.

The Mayor’s proposal for an electric powered ferry service located at City Dock was recently approved by the City Council. The trial operation will take passengers across Spa Creek, and possibly up to Sandy Point State Park and the Eastern Shore. The term he favors for City Dock is a “gateway” to the Chesapeake Bay. The City of Annapolis does not have a big footprint on the water. All available waterfront footage needs to be utilized efficiently. 

Fifty years ago, City Dock might flood once per year, but now high tides flood the City Dock area fifty times annually! Frequent flooding causes a significant impingement on traffic, commerce, and the quality of downtown life. The level of the Chesapeake Bay is rising. The resiliency piece of the project is urgent. An essential component of the City Dock Action Plan is to elevate the promenade and build a concrete flood wall around the perimeter of the area. New technologies are being studied to create flood barriers. These ideas include fixed and moveable/deployable barriers and fixed flood walls that will provide secondary functions as seat walls and road barriers. The plan is to have the flood barriers provide secondary protection against inevitable large storm or hurricane events. Annapolis was devastated by Hurricane Isabel in September 2003 and suffered serious flooding during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Annapolis needs to be able to weather future climatic events. The flood protection of the plan accounts for sea level rise and storm severity for the next 15–30 years. The design will include the ability to “bolt on” additional flood barriers in the future.

If Annapolis is hit by a storm, drains and pump stations will help send high waters back into the Chesapeake Bay. The City Dock area will have noticeably more trees to reduce heat and absorb water. The parking lot that is being eliminated just West of Susan Campbell Park will provide over an acre of open green space. The Donner Parking Lot on Compromise Street will also be reconfigured as green space. Some of the design elements include benches, stairways to access the lawn and park space, a brick promenade, naturalized low native bay plantings, and shade structures. Wider pathways along the water will extend from the Donner Park all the way around to the Burtis House. Mayor Buckley was successful in his quest to get the State of Maryland to transfer the Burtis property and the adjacent dock to the City. Fogerty says there are a number of options that are being studied, “The Burtis House has a variety of opportunities. One thought is put the Harbor Master there. I know the National Park Service has expectations. The use of the Burtis House will be determined in the next couple of years. The City and the Park Service are going to be working together.”

When asked about the cost of the City Dock project Fogerty says, “The reason there is such as push to get the garage moving forward is the garage funds a major portion of the City Dock project. The budget is about $38 million, but maybe to be safe we can say $40 million. That is for City Dock and the resiliency. That figure does not include the Burtis House.” She continues, “The longer we wait the greater the cost of construction, materials, and, likely, higher interest rates. We have the whole professional team. The plan is to have all of this completed within three years.”

There is a long list of people working on the project. Mayor Gavin Buckley and Historic Annapolis CEO Robert Clark are the visionaries that gotten the City Dock project started. Governor Larry Hogan and the Maryland Legislature have worked with the City on funding. County Executive Steuart Pittman has been a strong proponent of the project. City Manager David Jarrell has been leading the implementation of the project. Eivind Dueland at the Annapolis Mobility & Resilience Partners is the project manager of both the garage and City Dock. Bryce Turner of BCT Design Group is the architect of both projects. Michael Johnson the Director of Public Works and Betsey McKeown also represent the city. McKeown is the city’s project manager. Andrew Lewis is leading the construction by the large firm Whiting-Turner. Scott Rykiel is the landscape architect representing Mahan Rykiel Associates. And Leo Wilson, a local architect with Hammond Wilson, is also working on the design.

In the future we might see a hotel developed alongside City Dock and likely some new restaurants and other businesses. The allure of spending time on the waterfront and even getting out on the water will be an attraction that will benefit residents and visitors to our historic town. A complicated urban project is a big undertaking for any city. Annapolis has unique issues to deal with like rising tides and preserving our precious historic legacy. It is also vital that traffic flows smoothly and modern technology helps make Annapolis a safe place. The actual work is finally underway. All of us will have to be patient as we navigate our busy streets and learn to deal with reduced parking. In the meantime, I, for one, encourage everyone to support our downtown Annapolis merchants, enjoy watching the progress of the work, and rejoice when the City Dock Action Plan is completed.