CRISFIELD, MARYLAND — The state’s largest public marina is under reconstruction: DNR says crews began major upgrades at Somers Cove Marina in Crisfield in early September on a roughly $30 million package.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources, with the Department of General Services and the Maryland Department of Transportation, announced the work Sept. 23, 2026. Somers Cove is the state’s largest public marina. The release puts the project cost at $30 million and says the marina spans 30-plus acres with 515 slips that can accommodate boats up to 150 feet. More than 5,000 boaters use the marina each year, including 5,288 in 2025.

The rehabilitation replaces the boat ramp, converts eight of fifteen piers to floating pier systems, and installs 2,000 feet of new bulkhead. Five tide gates inside a new storm-drain system are meant to limit tidal flooding at the marina and on neighboring properties, including two gates intended for the Town of Crisfield’s future development. Other work covers upland storm drains, sewer, water, and electric systems, a new emergency generator, pier utilities, parking resurfacing, and ADA access improvements.

Somers Cove was built by the City of Crisfield in 1958 and has been owned by DNR since 1980. It is the eastern hub for Smith and Tangier Island tour boats and ferry service and the home port for DNR’s icebreaker and buoy tender, the M/V Eddie Somers. The release ties the marina to Maryland’s $4.2 billion recreational boating industry and $600 million commercial fishing industry.

“Somers Cove has an outsized importance for Maryland,” Maryland DNR Secretary Josh Kurtz said. “As Maryland’s largest publicly owned marina and the gateway to the Chesapeake Bay, these vital investments to Somers Cove will benefit boaters and the boating economy across the region.”

For Mid-Shore readers, the Crisfield rebuild is a regional Shore infrastructure and boating-economy story.