In the 1970s, the Chesapeake Bay Hydraulic Model represented state-of-the-art science and engineering. Spanning nine acres of land inside a massive Kent Island warehouse, the concrete model showed the bay in miniature and was designed as a means to test what would happen to the bay under various conditions.

The Model had its beginnings in the 1960s, when then-U.S. Representative Rogers C.B. Morton pushed for the federal government to approve and pay for a miniature model of the bay. The state sold the 52-acre site at Matapeake to the federal government for $10. Almost as soon as tests started in 1977, the bay model had problems. Insulation fell from the ceiling, concrete started cracking and funding problems became an issue. By the time experiments were halted in 1981, few of the planned studies had been completed.

Queen Anne’s County and the state are considering development of the site. The latest proposal is for two industrial companies and an 80,000-square-foot sports complex to move onto part of the site. The rest may be developed later. The project is split into two phases with the first phase including three parcels totaling 21 acres. One lot will be sold to Miltec, a manufacturing company that currently is located in the Chesapeake Bay Business Park. The other two lots will be sold to Linden Development, which will bring in NRL & Associates and a sports complex.