"To give you an idea, the last time we did this project in 2021 the cost was $16 million," City Manager Terry McGean told the City Council, according to OC Today-Dispatch. The new total, he said, is $28 million "for about the same volume of sand."
That is the backdrop for this winter in Ocean City. The town has lined up a beach replenishment, a Boardwalk extension at the south end and flood work at Eagles Landing Golf Course for the same off-season. Each one has a finish date set before the summer crowds come back. Winterfest of Lights also runs at Northside Park, and the construction calendar has to fit around it. Starting in November, the quiet months are when the town gets rebuilt, on a schedule set by Memorial Day.
Sand that cost $16 million in 2021 costs about $28 million now
Ocean City's beaches are usually replenished every four years. The last project ran in the fall and winter of 2021, so this one is behind schedule. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, awarded a $25.7 million contract to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company of Houston. The award followed a nor'easter that badly damaged the beach.
The scope is large. Crews will place roughly 982,000 cubic yards of sand to bring the engineered beach berm back to its normal elevation. The sand comes from Weaver Shoal, a borrow area more than seven miles offshore. The berm is the wide, flat stretch of beach in front of the Boardwalk and dunes, and it is designed to absorb wave energy. The pumped sand also has to match the sand already on the beach.
The cost increase explains a lot about how this winter is planned. A 1994 agreement splits the bill four ways. The Army Corps pays 53%, Maryland pays 23.5%, and Worcester County and Ocean City pay 11.75% each. Ocean City sets aside $500,000 a year for a shared replenishment fund, which earns interest between projects. That fund was built for 2021 prices. This round, McGean said, "our cost share, the local cost share, does exceed what's in the balance of the maintenance fund." The town and its partners made an extra one-time payment to cover the gap.
The exact start date depends on the Army Corps. An engineering department report had pointed to work starting in mid- to late October or early November. McGean said the only certain thing is that the project will happen this off-season, and a firmer schedule will come after the Corps holds its kickoff meeting with the contractor. The Army Corps has said work will begin between late 2026 and early 2027 and finish before Memorial Day. Town officials call it "the most important project we do in Ocean City." They credit replenishment with preventing an estimated $927 million in storm damage since the 1990s.
A Boardwalk extension that started as an elevator
The same cost pressure changed a smaller project at the south end of the Boardwalk. In 2023, the Maryland Department of General Services gave the town a $600,000 grant to add an elevator to the east side of the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum, so visitors who can't use the stairs could reach the second floor. When bids came in during the summer of 2024, they ranged from $1.22 million to $1.47 million. That was roughly double the grant.
Officials went back to the drawing board. In March, the City Council approved using the remaining $457,436 to extend the Boardwalk east of the museum. The revised plan adds railings, landscaping and an ADA-compliant interpretive kiosk inside the museum. An archway sign is also included, paid for with money left over from the Boardwalk signage project.
Public Works Director Hal Adkins said the town hoped to put the project out to bid by late October. If bids come in within budget, work could start by Dec. 1, and the goal is to finish by April 1. In his view, materials are the easier part of the schedule:
"Being this is simply a 'wood' project I am not overly concerned about any long lead times impacting the schedule on ordering of supplies. More so, I have to work around my 'Special Events Window' of time available to me."
He told OC Today-Dispatch that the real constraint is the events calendar. Even in the off-season, construction has to fit into the gaps between events.
Eagles Landing gives up four holes for the winter
The town-owned Eagles Landing Golf Course has a different problem. Tidal flooding there has been increasing, and in 2025 it covered the grass on certain holes four times, making play impossible. The fix involves raising one hole and adding berms and drainage to others.
Deputy City Manager JR Harmon said mobilization was set for the last week of October. Construction starting in November will affect holes 5, 7, 17 and 18. Play will be modified for the length of the project, and the target finish is April 15. Golfers who play through the winter will be working around crews for the whole off-season, in exchange for a course that floods less often next year.
The event calendar the crews build around
The biggest item in that Special Events Window is Winterfest of Lights. The Town announced on October 20 that it will run from November 19, 2026, through January 2, 2027, at Northside Park, 200 125th St. It is open nightly from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. This year's new displays are a snowflake arch, a walk-through beach ball, a giant illuminated cupcake display and a new Santa setup. A 50-foot musical Christmas tree anchors the layout.
The dates to put on the fridge, from the Town of Ocean City's announcement:
- Thursday, November 19, 5:00 p.m.: A free opening ceremony with the OC Stars, remarks from the Mayor and the switch flip by opening-night sponsor Delmarva Power.
- Every Wednesday: Pet Wednesdays, when pets are welcome on the path.
- Fridays and Saturdays, except Christmas Day: Fire & Ice Nights, with live entertainment in the festival tent.
- December 4, 11, 18 and 26: Professional ice carvers from the Ice Lab work in the Fire & Ice Village, with icy displays and bonfires.
- November 30 and December 1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21 and 22: Enchanted Evenings carriage rides in 2-, 6- and 12-seat options. Reservations are required.
- Through December 23: Santa visits. Roaming "Wonderland Characters" take over on December 26.
- December 31 at midnight: Fireworks over the uptown lights.
- January 1 at 7:00 p.m.: A downtown New Year's celebration.
General admission is $6 plus fees for guests 12 and older, and children 11 and younger get in free. An unlimited ride wristband costs $6 per child and covers two children's rides from Trimper's Amusements and the Town's trackless train. Surreys are also available to rent for biking the path. More details are posted at ococean.com/winterfest.
Winterfest ends January 2 and the Boardwalk extension is due April 1, which leaves a short window for the south-end work.
Two new kitchens opening into the quiet months
Two new businesses opened this fall, heading into the slowest part of the year for foot traffic, which gives them a winter of year-round customers before summer arrives. Delmarva Now included both in its October 19 roundup of new Eastern Shore businesses.
Local Caroline on the Boards is open at 106 S. Atlantic Ave., between Caroline and Talbot streets, next door to The Purple Moose. The menu centers on meats smoked in-house and smash burgers, along with other Boardwalk fare. It sits at the south end of town, not far from the museum where the Boardwalk extension is planned.
Bingsake Café & Asian Market is open in West Ocean City at 12445 Ocean Gateway, Unit 5. It serves coffee, bagels, sushi, poke bowls and fusion breakfast and lunch, and it hosts pop-up dinners and private events. Because it sits on the mainland side of the bridge, a morning coffee or poke bowl there doesn't involve downtown traffic.
The spring deadlines, in order
- April 1: Target finish for the Boardwalk extension east of the Life-Saving Station Museum, if bids come in within budget.
- April 15: Target finish for flood work on holes 5, 7, 17 and 18 at Eagles Landing.
- Before Memorial Day: Expected finish for beach replenishment, which starts sometime between late 2026 and early 2027.
All three dates are targets set by the officials running the projects, and each depends on a kickoff meeting, a bid or the weather. Each one also falls before the summer visitors return.
Planning a winter project of your own, or a spring sale timed to finish before Memorial Day? Kate's engineering and renovation background is useful for sorting out what can realistically get done in an Ocean City off-season and in what order. Reach out to Kate A Barnhart and Let's Connect about your timeline.
