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Annapolis Mayor Michael Pantelides announced the signing of a long term lease between the Annapolis Maritime Museum (AMM) and the City of Annapolis to take over Park management of the Ellen O. Moyer Back Nature Park at Back Creek.
The 20 year lease, with a 20 year option, will allow AMM to revitalize the park and renovate the historic Waterworks building. The City of Annapolis and the Annapolis Maritime Museum have an existing successful lease partnership with the McNasby property in Eastport, along with other properties.
“The Annapolis Maritime Museum has demonstrated excellent stewardship of City Property in the past and I am confident that locals as well as visitors will benefit from this agreement, allowing professional ongoing environmental education.” Mayor Pantelides said.
Ellen O. Moyer Nature Park at Back Creek, formerly Back Creek Nature Park (BCNP), was created in 1990 under Program Open Space. This 12-acre urban ecology park offers public access to the water, nature trails, and 19 interactive storm water education stations that feature informational storyboards depicting points of environmental interests.
Natural resources throughout the Park make it an excellent classroom. However, BCNP has sat largely unused and the Park is significantly underutilized and is in a severely deteriorated state.
“The Annapolis Maritime Museum’s immediate goal is to bring the Park’s faded environmental exhibit areas back to life, incorporating them as an active part of the Museum’s education programs and as a living exhibit attracting the public in general,” Annapolis Maritime Museum Executive Director Alice Estrada said.
Since 2007 the Annapolis Maritime Museum has connected students to the Chesapeake Bay, teaching them to value the threatened national treasure and today more than 30,000 students have participated in an AMM’s outdoor environmental education programs.
The current Museum campus includes the City-owned 7,000-square-foot McNasby Oyster Company building, the 600-square-foot Barge House, the Cap’n Herbie Sadler Park, canoe and kayak launching beach (also a living shoreline), and three transient piers. The Museum has permanent and rotating exhibitions and an ongoing calendar of special events.
The Annapolis Maritime Museum is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization dedicated to educating students and adults on the area’s rich maritime heritage and the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay through programs, exhibits and community events. The Museum partners with community groups, government entities, and other like-minded organizations to deliver high-quality educational initiatives and programs on subjects ranging from history and culture to the environment and good stewardship practices
