A plan to replace a disused pier would help the Old Dominion Boat Club bring more boats to Alexandria and hopefully make the waterfront a little cleaner.
In plans submitted to the City of Alexandria, the boat club in Old Town laid out its vision for replacing an outdated and disused wharf just to the south of the club’s location on The Strand with a new pier and floating dock.
The current pier is a fixed, L-shape, but hasn’t been used for mooring since the Boat Club moved to its present location. According to the application, the boat club plans to replace the existing pier with a combination of fixed piers extending eastward and a floating pier to the south.
Additionally, the boat club said the current pier is too low in the water and its fixed nature means that organic material and trash are blocked in and collected near the river’s edge. The new fixed pier would be higher than the other, allowing refuse to be flushed away from the waterfront.
Other measures in the application would involve removing old and unused piles in the water that currently slow the water and keep debris trapped up at the river’s edge.
According to the application:
The floating pier will provide facilities for transient boat mooring for larger boats due to the water depth along its expanse and for rowing crew shells and chase boats either for planned events/regattas or emergency needs. The ODBC also proposes to add a floating wharf over the shallow water in its riparian rights to allow and support current and new uses that include small boat mooring and launch and retrieval of crew shells and kayaks to support increased recreational use of the Potomac River.
Alexandria’s Old Dominion Boat Club was founded in 1880 and has relocated three times throughout its life, most recently to the foot of Prince Street after the city threatened eminent domain to take the building they had been located in since 1924 — currently Waterfront Park.
The application notes that the new wharf would encourage recreational waterfront use at the pier while the main Prince Street location would support transient boat mooring and daily marine uses.
The item was scheduled to be voted on at a Planning Commission meeting tonight (Tuesday) but has been deferred.
Photo (top) via City of Alexandria, (bottom) via Google Maps
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If you had a chance to enhance a child’s future with a time commitment of less than 2 hours a week, how would you respond? You have that opportunity right now to join over 200 Alexandrians as a reading tutor volunteer with the Alexandria Tutoring Consortium (ATC).
ATC tutors work with one child in kindergarten, first, or second grade in Alexandria public schools who need extra help with reading. Tutors meet with their Book Buddy 1-2 times each week for 30 minutes October-May at school, during school hours. Many struggling readers only receive one-on-one instruction through this program, and it makes all the difference. Last year, ATC served 195 children, of whom 82% ended the year reading on grade level and 96% made substantial reading gains. But the need is great, and we are still seeing learning lags from the pandemic.
This year, ATC plans to significantly increase the size of the program to reach over 250 students and to serve every elementary school in Alexandria. This is very exciting news, but we will only succeed if we can recruit more tutors. ATC trains you, matches you with a child, and provides ongoing lesson materials and support.
If you have been thinking about buying your first home or haven’t owned one in the last three years, THIS IS FOR YOU!
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2023 Alexandria Fall Festival
Food trucks, bounce houses, pony rides, magic shows and more at the 2023 Alexandria Fall Festival, an Alexandria Living event presented by The Patterson Group. Join us at River Farm on Sunday, Nov. 5 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
