Watermen’s Museum in Yorktown, VA is pleased to announce that we have been awarded a Dominion Energy Environmental Grant to build a Waterfront Environmental Education Kiosk along the shores of the York River.
On October 8, 2019, Crystal B. Bright, External Affairs Representative III from Dominion Energy, presented Steve Ormsby, President of the Watermen’s Museum, with a $20,000 check. The awarded grant will enable the Museum to construct a kiosk education area that will serve as a principal outdoor classroom area for school and homeschool programs in aquatic and shore animal and plant life studies, shoreline erosion and land subsidence, sea level rise, water salinity, oxygenation, pollution impacts and prevention, and more. In addition the area will support Museum summer camp programs in areas such as: underwater and land archaeology, land and marine nature exploration, boatbuilding, maritime trades, and Yorktown and Chesapeake Bay history topics.
The Museum plans to install additional 4-foot by 3-foot panels to display educational material highlighting the ecosystems of oysters, grasses, and crabs and other animals, water quality and sea-level rice/land subsidence, and panels that depict major eras in Colonial Yorktown and later American history. The placement of these signs will provide a structured educational content for instructional presentations and for self-directed visitors. The full length of the northern side of the kiosk will be unobstructed by signage, providing the maximum view of the York River, the shoreline, dunes, and other natural areas.
Placement of the structure is planned to be adjacent to the existing Riverwalk sidewalk opening to the sand area of 313 Water Street, one of the four parcels of adjoining land owned by the Museum. This placement will provide the maximum capability for use while posing no impacts on an adjacent landowner. Because the structure will consist of vertical posts and a shingled roof with no floor, the entire surrounding area will retain its natural flora and fauna habitats.
The Museum is coordinating final approval from York County and State agencies for placement of the kiosk. If you have any questions about the project or would like to make a donation to support Museum programs, please contact the Watermen’s Museum President, Steve Ormsby, at 757-887-2641 or at admin@watermens.org.
