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NORFOLK -- Flanked by friends and guests April 20, 2012, Old Dominion University officials and its project partners, Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the city of Norfolk, cut the ribbon on the new sailing pier water access project and companion Elizabeth River Wetlands Restoration project. The ODU Drainage Canal Wetland Restoration project is located on the main branch of the Elizabeth River within the city of Norfolk, Va. The project is part of a much larger Elizabeth River environmental initiative that began in 1993, with four folks sitting around a kitchen table discussing ways to clean-up their beloved river. That gathering produced the Elizabeth River Project, the grassroots non-profit organization that today has morphed into a multi-million dollar public-private venture that is steadily restoring the health of the Elizabeth River. The Norfolk District has long partnered with ERP to make their vision to restore the river a reality. The project consisted of the construction of two stone breakwaters to create a protected area for nearly an acre of wetlands restoration, and the construction of a check dam at the mouth of the stormwater canal to control sedimentation. The funding for this phase of the project came from the federal government and the city of Norfolk. An additional project feature, or betterment, included the rehabilitation of the existing revetments along the golf course and ODU shoreline, and the construction of a timber pier, gangway and floating pier at the ODU Sailing Center. This was funded by ODU and the city of Norfolk.