News

Alexandria City Council directed staff on Tuesday to pursue a new preferred option to combat flooding along the Alexandria waterfront — one that does not involve a pump station.

City staff presented the council with a number of options in the wake of the National Park Service’s denial last month of the city’s plan to build a pump station at Waterfront Park. The city’s preferred option, Option 3, is an enhanced gravity storm sewer system, with “automated back flow prevention devices.” Option 3 also means that infrastructure improvements to Point Lumley Park and the bulkhead would be deferred.


News

The Alexandria Waterfront Alliance proposed moving Alexandria’s controversial flood mitigation pump station from Waterfront Park to the long-vacant building at 1 Prince St., according to presentation materials from Tuesday’s Waterfront Commission meeting.

The unsolicited presentation to the Waterfront Commission included detailed architectural renderings showing how the pump facility could be integrated into the existing structure while creating space above for a maritime museum, education center or commercial development. The group argued the location would preserve the park while utilizing the building’s existing deep foundation piles.