Historic St. Mary's City seeks planning funds for visitor-center conversion, flags backlog in site improvements

Historic St. Mary's City Commission officials told the Maryland General Assembly's Capital Budget Subcommittee on the need for planning funds to convert an existing visitor center and for faster use of previously authorized site‑improvement funds.

Budget analyst Elizabeth Bridal told the subcommittee that "construction is almost complete on the new Maryland Heritage Interpretive Center, which is expected to open in spring or summer of 2026 and will then serve as the new visitor center for the park." Bridal said $381,000 is planned in fiscal 2026 to begin the conversion project and that construction is scheduled for fiscal 2028–29. She said the total estimated cost for the conversion is just under $15,000,000.

The conversion would repurpose the current visitor center and an adjacent storage facility into an education and artisan center with flexible programming space, staff offices, storage and additional restrooms, Bridal said. She also outlined three other capital projects in the commission's five‑year capital improvement plan (CIP): ongoing site improvements, a new collections storage and maintenance facility, and the Leonard Calvert House Exhibit. The collections/storage project is planned to begin funding in fiscal 2027; Bridal said current storage is expected to reach capacity in calendar 2028.

Doctor John Seidel, executive director of the Historic St. Mary's City Commission, said the commission "concur[s] with the governor's budget and the analyst's recommendations." Seidel described a backlog of site improvements that the commission says it is actively resolving: completed work totaling about $2,200,000 with another $1,700,000 scheduled to finish in the coming months, plus a roughly $500,000 Americans with Disabilities Act–compliant pier in construction blackout over the winter and expected to finish by June. Seidel said those jobs include a chapel exhibit, a restaurant, renovations in the slave quarters and restrooms. He said the cumulative backlog of site improvements now either complete or nearing completion is about $4,400,000.

Seidel warned that excluding site‑improvement funding in fiscal 2026 could slow preparations for Maryland's 400th anniversary of founding in 2034 and risk negative effects on visitor experience. He also emphasized the commission's collections needs: without additional climate‑controlled storage the commission may jeopardize museum accreditation and federal funding. "We project that our current storage facility will reach capacity in calendar 2028," he said.

Discussion: The Department of Legislative Services (DLS) recommended adopting narrative language asking for a report that details encumbrances and expenditures on site‑improvement projects, including a separate accounting for G.O. bond‑funded projects; Bridal said the recommended narrative text appears on page 2 of the analysis. Commission representatives told the committee they have increased internal project oversight, weekly project updates and coordination with the Department of General Services to accelerate encumbrances.

Ending: The subcommittee did not take a formal vote at the hearing. The commission said it would provide the December 2025 progress report DLS requested and reiterated the commission's interest in resuming catch‑up funding as projects are encumbered and completed.