The National Park Service has approved a plan to move the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park headquarters to the former Miller Lumber Company site in Williamsport, Maryland.

Construction of the park headquarters will begin in 2020 and is projected to be completed in late 2021. The new headquarters will bring about 70 jobs with an annual payroll of about $5 million to Williamsport. The park held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the project in August.

The new headquarters will feature two stories and provide more than 20,000 square feet of space. Under an agreement with the Maryland Economic Development Corporation, the state will build the park headquarters and visitor contact station on land owned by Washington County. The National Park Service will then make base lease payments for use of the facilities and utilities over the life of the cooperative management agreement. At the expiration of the CMA in 2050, the NPS will evaluate whether the facilities and lands associated with the site could be donated to the NPS.

Financial terms were not disclosed in the documents.

When the project is complete, school groups, neighbors and other visitors will have better opportunities to connect with the historic canal waterway. Currently, the C&O Canal headquarters is located in Hagerstown, Maryland, a 20-minute drive from the nearest park location in Williamsport. Moving the park headquarters to a location closer to the park will improve efficiency and enhance the park experience for visitors.

The C&O Canal recently completed a two-year project at Williamsport to restore the Conococheague Aqueduct, where visitors can experience the only watered, operational canal aqueduct in North America.

A Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the new headquarters was signed on November 22. The FONSI describes why the selected action will have no significant effects on the environment, provides the rationale for the decision and outlines conservation measures that will be taken to avoid, minimize and mitigate impacts to cultural resources. The FONSI is available for review at parkplanning.nps.gov/canalheadquarters.