Boothbay Region Maritime Foundation is in the final planning stages for Carter’s Wharf, formerly Sea Pier. BHMF President Deanne Tibbetts, engineer Will Gartley of Gartley & Dorsky and architect Amanda Austin presented the project to planning board members May 21 in a pre-application hearing.

“Our goals are to preserve maritime heritage, to secure waterfront (and to) make it a safe place for fishermen and for public and educational opportunities,” Tibbetts said.

The building’s volume and footprint will be reduced to create more workable wharf space, said Austin. According to the presentation, the building will be demolished and though the entire wharf will be reconstructed, there are no plans for additional uses or slips and all sales on the property will continue to be commercial only.

One of the biggest goals was to get the smaller building as far inland as possible since the existing structure is entirely over the water. Gartley said to keep the building at Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s recommended elevation off the high water mark, BRMF was able to have the Federal Emergency Management Agency reclassify BRMF’s zone; this allows the construction of a concrete retaining wall further into the harbor and keeps the new building all on land.

The project has already gone through pre-application procedures with the Maine DEP and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gartley said. Formal application presentations with the agencies will be in the coming weeks during which BRMF will seek approval from the planning board.