50th Anniversary Golden Nugget: Early Plans for a Marina

In the early planning stages of The Landings, a Marina was to be built at Priest Landing on the Wilmington River. The planners initially envisioned the dredging of a deep water creek along the entire eastern edge of the Island where it faces Romerly Marsh. Property owners along the marsh could then have their own docks with direct access to the Wilmington River. Before this idea even got off the ground, regulations protecting the marshes were put in force so that no such disturbance of the marsh front would be countenanced.

Another part of the original concept was a marina dredged in the heart of The Landings property.  It would be reached from the Wilmington River by deepening the lagoon which now crosses under Landings Way, the entrance road, near the Branigar Sales Office.  Experienced engineering opinions soon discouraged this notion with the prediction of the exorbitant annual dredging costs to maintain the lagoon and “inland” Marina.