A new petition has been launched against part of Alexandria’s plan to combat flooding in Old Town.
The Change.org petition opposing the installation of a two-story pump station at Waterfront Park to recirculate floodwaters back to the Potomac River has garnered 275 signatures so far. The organizer wrote in the petition that the pump station “is destructive, unnecessary, wasteful, and in violation of public trust.”
The city’s $145 million plan to combat flooding in Old Town will close Waterfront Park and Point Lumley Park from fall 2026 to winter 2029 by rebuilding the seawall and installing a pump station. In May, the city released elaborate renderings (see gallery above) of the proposed pump location for the pump station along Prince Street.
The petition was written by the “Friends of Waterfront Park,” which described itself as a welcoming coalition urging against “this ill-conceived project.”
“The massive, noisy, two-story windowless structure would obstruct key views from Prince and Union Streets, harming both resident and tourist experiences, and decreasing tax revenue,” the petition says. “Options like gravity-based drainage, raised grade levels, and targeted flood-proofing were never seriously pursued—even though they could eliminate the need for this pump station entirely.”
A concept review for the project was presented to the Board of Architectural Review on June 5. During that meeting, several letters opposing the project were sent to the city, including ones from the presidents of the Old Town Civic Association and the Old Dominion Boat Club.
“Placing this now-giant rusty metal box in this precious open space (or any other public open space) destroys a place of both historic and public interest and utility that has taken over 75 years to create,” OTCA President Yvonne Weight Callahan wrote in a joint letter. “…This means that all businesses and residents along the Alexandria waterfront will be severely impacted by what is projected by the City to be over three years of construction disturbances.”
Charlotte Hall, former executive director of the Old Town Business Association, wrote to the BAR on behalf of restaurants and retail shops in the 100 block of King Street.
“We join with the surrounding residents and business owners who find the scale, mass, height, and architectural character of the pump station completely incongruous with its context,” Hall wrote. “We understand that a pump station with a more historically compatible design and a significantly reduced size in a functionally and aesthetically appropriate location is necessary to mitigate nuisance flooding — but this simply isn’t it.”
According to the city:
The footprint of the pump station itself is aligned with the Old Dominion Boat Club (across Prince Street) and allows for pedestrian and vehicular traffic traveling up Stand Street to have unimpeded views of the renovated Waterfront Park.
The covered patio and plaza venue space created by the overhang of the pump station has been situated to open up to and face the Potomac River. This architectural element is emphasized by the pedestrianization of Prince Street and the flexible game/seating space. The canopy itself opens outward and upward towards the Potomac as well, engaging directly with the waterfront.
