SPARROWS POINT, Md. — Pleasant Yacht Club members feared Tradepoint Atlantic's dredging project would erase decades of history.
But thanks to two Baltimore County senators, there's hope that the historic Black yacht club is here to stay.
Tradepoint Atlantic's dredging project would create thousands of jobs, but its plan would also eliminate two Sparrows Point yacht clubs.
One of those clubs, Pleasant Yacht Club, was formed out of segregation.
A group of Black men formed it in 1959 after their employer Bethlehem Steel wouldn't help them like it had done with its white employees.
Senator Carl Jackson only learned about this history recently when members from the club traveled to Annapolis in hopes of saving it.
"The following day, I got a call from Tradepoint's lobbyists, who told me Tradepoint heard me loud and clear and that the Pleasant Yacht club would stay. And from that point, we wanted to make sure that Tradepoint kept their word," Jackson told WMAR 2 News.
So, he and Senator Charles Sydnor, who also learned about the club this year, added an amendment into the budget requiring Tradepoint to alter dredging operation to preserve the two clubs.
And if Tradepoint can't, it has to compensate the clubs.
"For me I didn't want to be voting on a budget that was gonna be eliminating the sole black yacht club in Baltimore county," Sydnor said, explaining why it was important for him to add the amendment.
Jackson told WMAR 2 News the history of the club moved him.
"It was very profound for me, learning that they couldn't join other boat clubs because of the color of their skin back in those times, I couldn't even imagine," he said, "That's a great sense of history for me and I think that many generations can benefit from that history."
The news came as a relief to club member Lafon Porter.
"I almost jumped to the ceiling on my home. Senator Sydnor and Senator Jackson, I view them as superheroes," Porter said.
A Tradepoint spokesperson sent WMAR 2 News a statement in response to the amendment saying,
"As we have indicated, the proposed mitigation plan was just that, a plan that was out for public comment. We have received comments from the community and interests connected to the private yacht clubs and are taking them all into account. We are mindful of the history and legacy of the private yacht clubs and are working diligently on a promising alternative plan that will allow for the preservation of private yacht club operations at Sparrows Point."
The club's last living founding member, 97-year-old Johnnie Mathis, hopes to continue on as they have for over 60 years.
"Since then, we reached out to a whole lot of senior citizens, Boy Scouts from Turner Station and they come out here and enjoy things like we did and I'd like to see that continue," Mathis said.
On October 1st, Tradepoint will have to present a report on how dredging operation have been adjusted to preserve the two yacht clubs or how it plans to compensate the two clubs if it can't find a solution.
