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The waters of the Cape Fear River partially covered the parking lot at the Battleship North Carolina Memorial in Wilmington on Friday, amid a king tide.

Members of the state battleship commission and other invited guests had to drive and wade through standing, ankle-deep water to get to the front door of the visitors center to board the ship for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Living With Water project.

It was a fitting demonstration of the problem the battleship has been dealing with for the last few years – one that you had to see with your own eyes to fully understand. 

As we reported last year, sunny-day flooding washes over the access road and the parking lot to the battleship. As a self-sustaining enterprise of the state, if visitors can’t get to the ship, the crew can’t sell tickets. The flooding has become an economic and environmental threat to the ship.

The Living With Water project aims to remake the battleship site to better withstand the rising waters of the river, and make it more in tune with the ecosystem on Eagles Island, where the ship rests. 

It will be a six-month job that will turn part of the parking lot into a natural area with a tidal creek to channel floodwaters, and lift the other part of the parking lot above flood stage. Around the ship, construction crews will build a living shoreline that will make the battleship site more resilient to the effects of climate change.

Friday was a culmination of years of research, planning, and raising $4 million to get to the starting point of the project.

Attendees each received a small pot of native grass that will be planted in the marshes around the battleship. (Photo by Ben McNeely)

Standing next to one of the battleship’s massive gun turrets, Executive Director Terry Bragg recognized partner scientists, engineers, and special guests from state and local governments who have supported the project. He joked that the flooding was a perfect backdrop for the ceremony.

Behind him, a bulldozer was knocking down the dead cypress trees in the parking lot, to make way for the new natural area. 

In lieu of the traditional golden shovel used to turn ceremonial dirt, each attendee received a small pot of native grass that will be planted in the marshes around the battleship, as part of the living shoreline. 

Terry DeMeo, the battleship’s development director who spent years raising money and awareness for the project, looked on with a beaming smile.

“I’m just so very proud that the project has gotten to this point,” DeMeo said. “I’m thrilled with all our supporters, and just super excited that we are on our way.”

The project is set to be complete by August.

Ben McNeely has practiced journalism in some form and fashion since he was 14 years old. He spent his career at local North Carolina newspapers, and 10 years as a political producer at Spectrum News 1. He currently serves as editorial advisor for student media at North Carolina State University.