Historic Alexandria regrets that it has to cancel SeeWorthy in the Park this Sunday, May 15 at Ben Brenman Park due to the possibility of inclement weather. The program will be scheduled for a later date.­­

For Immediate Release: May 3, 2022

The City of Alexandria has begun implementing the next phase of the journey of three wooden ship remains found at the Robinson Landing construction site in 2018. City archaeologists temporarily stored the timbers from the three ship remnants in tanks of water to keep the wood from decaying. The timbers will now be moved to Ben Brenman Pond. This creative storage solution will continue to preserve the wood and allow for future study and conservation. Archaeologists will reassess after 20-25 years to decide whether to continue to preserve the timbers in the pond, or if a different stabilization method such as conservation is the best option for the artifacts.

Ben Brenman Pond, located in Ben Brenman Park, was constructed in the late 1990s as a stormwater management facility for the Cameron Station community. Staff from the City’s Office of Historic Alexandria, Department of Project Implementation and Department of Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities collaborated on a site selection process and analysis, and chose this pond as the most feasible option. The ship remains will be secured at the bottom of the pond and regularly monitored. A small sample of timbers will be conserved. Three interpretation signs will accompany the ships, explaining their significance and why the pond was chosen for storage. The work at the pond is being undertaken by AECOM, an engineering and archaeology firm, in coordination with Alexandria Archaeology Museum and the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory. “This is the next leg in a long and continuing journey for these historic ships and we are eager to undertake this major preservation effort with our partners who made this possible,” said Gretchen Bulova, Director of the Office of Historic Alexandria.

More than 200 years ago, Alexandrians repurposed these old merchant ships to create new land along the Potomac River. This new land helped make the early town a thriving international port. In 2018, the City of Alexandria worked with developer EYA, LLC, its team of archaeologists from Thunderbird, a division of Wetlands Studies and Solutions, Inc., and other experts in the research and excavation of the three ships and other landmaking structures. “These rare and unique artifacts represent Alexandria’s historic seaport,” said Eleanor Breen, City Archaeologist. “We look forward to sharing the story of their discovery, excavation, and preservation with Alexandria residents and visitors in the Alexandria Archaeology Museum and in many other ways.”

Fieldwork began on May 2, and will take approximately 4-6 weeks. A public event, “SeeWorthy in the Park,” will be held Sunday, May 15, from 12 to 4 p.m., weather permitting. The free event will include opportunities to talk with archaeologists about ship research and preservation, as well as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)-based activities for all ages, such as shoreline engineering, wood preservation, and forklift hydraulics.

Over the last two years, Texas A&M University’s Conservation Research Lab (CRL) 3-D laser scanned more than 1,000 timbers recovered from the three Robinson Landing Site ships. Staff from the CRL used these scans to produce digital and physical models of the ships for future study and interpretation. The physical models will be on exhibit on the first floor of the Torpedo Factory Art Center until June 5 as part of “SeeWorthy: Modeling Maritime Archaeology.” The fourth ship, discovered by archaeologists before the construction of the Hotel Indigo, is currently undergoing conservation in Texas at the CRL.

Visit the City's Robinson Landing Ships webpage for more information about the project.

For inquiries from the news media only, contact Andrea Blackford, Editorial Communications Manager, at andrea.blackford@alexandriava.gov or 703.746.3959.

For reasonable disability accommodation, contact eleanor.breen@alexandriava.gov or call 703.746.4399, Virginia Relay 711.

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This news release is available at alexandriava.gov/go/3597.