Plan for U.S. Merchant Marine Academy upgrades in Kings Point takes step forward

A 10-year plan to modernize and overhaul the aging campus of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point would be overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, federal officials announced Tuesday, marking a step forward for a $1 billion project Congress still has to authorize.

The U.S. Department of Transportation said the agreement will allow the USMMA and the Army Corps to begin preparing for the massive project at the campus, which opened in 1943.

“Merchant marine cadets have answered the call to serve our country, and it’s our duty to deliver an institution worthy of their sacrifice,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who visited the North Shore campus earlier this month and lent support for the campus overhaul, said in a statement. “Our mariners are critical to President Trump’s agenda to make American shipbuilding great again, and more importantly protecting our national security.”

The announcement follows an April 9 executive order President Donald Trump signed on “Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance” and improving the nation’s commercial shipbuilding capacity.

The order includes language directing Duffy, whose office oversees USMMA, to hire staff and secure the funding needed to execute “urgent deferred maintenance projects and any other mission critical repair works at USMMA.”

Trump also directed DOT officials to finalize a long-term master plan for the modernization of USMMA and to submit to submit a five-year capital improvement plan that includes “budgets, schedules and sequencing, along with an inventory of deferred maintenance items necessary to sustain campus operations” while the project is underway. 

The agreement on the 10-year plan, federal officials said, was signed during a Friday ceremony at USMMA by Army Corps Brig. Gen. John Lloyd and Merchant Marine Academy Superintendent Joanna Nunan.

“We are looking forward to rehabilitating and modernizing the campus infrastructure at the USMMA,” Col. Alexander Young, commander of the Army Corps’ New York District, said in a statement. “It is necessary to ensure current and future generations of midshipmen receive a first-class education. We hope this partnership will serve as a building block for additional collaboration both short and long-term.”

Nunan, in a statement, added: “With fire, steel, and stone, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will bring to life the determination and spirit the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy has shown for more than 80 years.”

The university, one of five federal service academies, trains men and women to work on deep sea vessels and in the military. If the funding is approved, USMMA would remain operational during the construction period.

Many of the buildings on the campus date back to the founding of the institution, which were quickly constructed during World War II and meant to be temporary.

The campus has seen its physical condition deteriorate with virtually every building on its 82 acres now exceeding life expectancy and requiring replacement or major renovation, according to a 2022 report by the school’s Maritime Security Infrastructure Council, which developed the billion-dollar improvement plan.

For example, modern information technology is nearly nonexistent in several buildings, the council found, “and what is available cannot accommodate even the most basic digital needs.”

The proposal calls for new or renovated academic buildings, libraries, training facilities, parking structures, faculty and senior housing, and upgrades to utilities, IT and campus security.

Last month, legislation introduced by Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) and cosponsored by the entire Long Island House delegation, authorized spending $1.02 billion on USMMA improvements between fiscal years 2026 and 2035. The plan calls for spending $54 million for design and planning in the initial year, followed by annual construction funding of $107.3 million in each additional year.