Karen Stone, museum division manager for St. Mary's County, told the Recreation and Park Citizens Advisory Board that the museum division’s annual operating allocation from the county is just over $1 million and covers staff, maintenance and utilities but not exhibits or programming.

Stone described an active construction schedule at Piney Point: demolition is complete, rebuilding is underway and the division is roughly a week ahead of schedule on a new museum building that is expected to be finished around Christmas of the next year. The department awarded the construction contract to WM Davis and said exhibit design work is being prepared for subcontracting to exhibit firms.

Stone said the museum division stewards four main public sites — Piney Point Lighthouse Museum, St. Clement's Island Museum, the Old Jail museum and the Drayton African American Schoolhouse — and operates the county’s public water taxi service to St. Clement's Island. She said the division oversees the county’s underwater shipwreck preserve, including the U-1105 submarine wreck off Piney Point.

The division is acquiring a new water taxi it will rebrand as the First Landing Explorer. Stone said the vessel was purchased from Florida, already Coast Guard certified, and will be delivered after final renovations at McCrady’s Boatyard in Solomons; she said boatyard work included replacing individual seats with bench seating and adding ADA wheelchair clamps. Stone said the vessel should arrive within “2 to 3 weeks” and will extend the museum’s reach — potentially to Cobb Island and Point Lookout — and be operable after dark, weather permitting.

On programming and exhibits, Stone said the museum’s second-floor permanent exhibit will present the foundational story, including a Piscataway perspective developed in consultation with tribal leadership and artifact selections made by the tribe. She said the historical society is loaning a restored historic cannon for display on the new first floor; the cannon weighs roughly 3,000 pounds and will remain on the first floor with circulation to upstairs exhibits via elevator or staircase.

Stone also noted staffing details: a mix of full- and part-time staff, apprentices from the Forest Tech Center, five part-time boat captains, and site supervisors who also manage collections and the water taxi operation. She said the museum’s friends group (a 501(c)(3)) funds exhibits and programming and that the Leonardtown visitor center contributes $10,000 annually via a memorandum of understanding for staffing at the Old Jail/visitor center site.

Because of construction, Stone said St. Clement's Island events will shift to Piney Point in 2026, though Maryland Day ceremonies on the island are expected to continue. Stone invited questions and noted the division is preparing exhibit design materials and outreach as construction proceeds.