City Dock

Just when Annapolis officials thought they had quelled the storm over a charter vessel that sought a long-term slip at the City Dock, new clouds are looming.This time, the tempest is not over longtime watermen losing their moorings. It's over the notion that an upstart charter company will get prime-time harbor placement that might have been denied to others."We have for years had people with charter vessels asking to rent slips from the city, and for years they've been turned down," said Alderman Louise Hammond.

Surrounded by the pricey restaurants and bars of the state capital, Annapolis' historic Market House has found a modern niche among downtown workers and tourists by serving fried chicken, crab cakes, pizza and deli sandwiches. "We've become a working man's lunch place," said Joseph Martin, 61, whose family has run Mann's Sandwiches in the nearly 150-year-old building on City Dock for 30 years. "It's a place where a guy can come eat for $3 or $4 at lunch time." But as Annapolis gears up for a major renovation of the city-owned Market House after three decades of poor maintenance, it is re-evaluating how the market works and what it sells.

The Annapolis City Council has formally expressed support for building a National Sailing Hall of Fame on City Dock, giving momentum to the project even as preservationists have decried any plan to raze, move or alter a historic waterfront home on the site. The resolution sponsored by Mayor Ellen O. Moyer, a strong proponent of the estimated $20 million museum, passed 6-3 Monday night in a symbolic gesture that could convince the state, which owns the property, to offer a long-term lease.

The City of Annapolis cannot pass legislation to immediately occupy the Market House at City Dock, city officials said in response to a petition being circulated by the Annapolis Business Association requesting that the city allow tenants to move into the waterfront property by the start of spring. In its statement, the city outlines why it's not legally up to city officials to allow tenants to move in. "The city would love to resolve this matter and return the Market House to its rightful position as a jewel of our downtown and harbor area," the statement reads.

While the cost of improving City Dock has soared to nearly $9 million, the brunt of the project is expected to be completed in half as much time as originally planned to accommodate Annapolis' tourism calendar, according to city officials. In the lull between the powerboat show in October and the Maritime Heritage Festival in May 2008 - two of the city's largest tourist draws - two barge crews will work simultaneously, spearing new bulkheads and sheet pilings through the soupy soil on the bay floor in the project's main phase.

In a move that Mayor Ellen O. Moyer called unwise, the Annapolis city council is aiming to cut the property tax rate by spending $800,000 set aside to repair and upgrade City Dock. The Finance Committee, made up of three aldermen, recommended Monday night a 3-cent rate reduction, to 53 cents per $100 of assessed value. Moyer's proposed $68.6 million budget leaves the property tax rate unchanged. Aldermen Joshua Cohen and David Cordle and Alderwoman Classie Gillis Hoyle suggested stripping $800,000 from the $1.7 million project to replace the bulkheads and boardwalk and install utility lines.

Market House should be a retailer's dream. The 150-year-old Annapolis landmark sits on City Dock, a venue that draws visitors by the thousands. Yet, Market House, once a thriving venue called "the cafeteria of Annapolis," has just two tenants - a bank and a bakery. During the past decade, there have been setbacks: A flood in 2003 caused $1 million damage; an air-conditioning malfunction in 2006 resulted in millions of dollars in lawsuits and the loss of several tenants. Now, with the lawsuits settled and Market House under exclusive city control, city leaders say they are ready for a rebound, with plans for about $1 million in renovations to lure tenants.

A fresh round of developments has reopened a favorite subject of speculation, chatter and argument in Annapolis: the future of Market House, all fixed up with a new roof but still a blank, boarded-up space on the bustling City Dock this summer. City officials confirmed last week that Dean & DeLuca, the New York gourmet grocer that was signed up with much fanfare to run the 146-year-old landmark, had backed out of a deal to set up shop there. Annapolis Seafood reached an independent agreement with Dean & DeLuca to become the main Market House operator.

Annapolis' claim to be the "sailing capital of the world" is undisputed for five days every October as the city holds what organizers bill as the nation's largest and oldest in-water sailboat show. The 31st annual United States Sailboat Show - featuring 350 boats and an equal number of accessory, service and equipment vendors at City Dock - begins Thursday with a VIP day and is open for general admission Friday through Oct. 9. Followed closely by the United States Powerboat Show, which runs Oct. 12 through 15, the event transforms the city into "the center of the boating universe," said Thomas Roskelly, the city's public information officer.

A fresh round of developments has reopened a favorite subject of speculation, chatter and argument in Annapolis: the future of Market House, all fixed up with a new roof but still a blank, boarded-up space on the bustling City Dock this summer. City officials confirmed last week that Dean & DeLuca, the New York gourmet grocer that was signed up with much fanfare to run the 146-year-old landmark, had backed out of a deal to set up shop there. Annapolis Seafood reached an independent agreement with Dean & DeLuca to become the main Market House operator.