ASTORIA — The Columbia River Maritime Museum is hosting a groundbreaking ceremony for its Warnock Mariners Hall expansion project at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 7.

The new exhibit hall, which the museum plans to open in summer 2026, is part of a $30 million expansion that would add more than 24,000 square feet of space for exhibits and education programs.

Plans for the new building include the display of dozens of vessels now in storage, including the 1938 wooden yacht Merrimac, fishing vessels built by Astoria’s Wilson Bros. and Bumble Bee shipyards and a 60-foot racing shell crafted by George Pocock. For more details, visit www.crmm.org.