The Deltaville Maritime Museum at Holly Point Nature Park announces a major waterfront enhancement project. A substantial 240’ by 8’ pier encircling the shoreline restoration area implanted last year will be constructed through the generosity of seven local benefactors.

Museum officials believe that the new pier will greatly augment the recreational and education missions of the museum. Not only will the pier offer expanded access for watercraft visiting Holly Point facilities through an exponential increase in dockage space but also will allow groups of educators, students, patrons, and visitors to study the shoreline restoration area from a safe and spacious platform enveloping the site.

The seven donors who are making this project possible are: Allen & Frances Krowe, Bob & Erma Gary, Dieter & Mary Lib Hoinkes, Gene Ruark, Bob & Christie LeBoeuf, Bill & Elizabeth Perkins, and Tim Blackwood. Gene Ruark also serves as the Museum’s President this year. The pier is being constructed by Delta Marine of Deltaville and is scheduled for a May completion.Museum members are enthusiastic about the opportunities to showcase their Living Shoreline & Riparian Buffer Gardens as presented by the new pier. The Living Shoreline project, permitted by Middlesex County, expanded the wetlands area with plantings of smooth cordgrass intended to provide shoreline protection by absorbing wave energy, screening suspended solids from intertidal waters, and providing food and cover to a number of marsh birds and mammals.

The Riparian Buffer is the vegetated area above and adjacent to the wetlands that serves to reduce erosion, increase shoreline stability, enhance wildlife habitat, and improve air quality. By using native plant species that are well adapted to local climate and soil types, minimal water and maintenance are required to sustain growth.

Living Shorelines in combination with Riparian Buffers have been proven to be an efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional methods of controlling shoreline erosion with rip/rap or bulkheads. And the visual qualities of vegetated buffers and shorelines are unquestionably superior.

The Living Shoreline & Buffer Zone Gardens were funded from grants from Middlesex County, Wetlands Board, and the State of Virginia Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund. Planning was done by Middlesex Master Gardeners, VIMS, and Middlesex County Department of Planning and Community Development. Native plants were provided by Pineland Nursery & Denise Greene of Sassafras Farms.

The Deltaville Maritime Museum looks forward to welcoming the public, by land or by sea, to its new waterfront pier later this spring for an introduction to the benefits of natural shoreline protection methods.