The Middle Peninsula Chesapeake Bay Public Access Authority (PAA) recently received a donation of approximately 97 acres of waterfront property located on the Severn River at Naxera. Officials said the site could include such uses as home to the Gloucester High School rowing program, and a place for public meetings and wedding receptions in the years to come.

The property, valued at $1.6 million, includes 21 parcels, said Lewis Lawrence, executive director of the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission, the agency which furnishes staff for the PAA. In addition, there are three dwellings (one a 7,000-square-foot house), a dock, a boat ramp, a pool house, and a large pole barn.

The donation includes part of the Land’s End subdivision off Featherbed Lane, but does not include the nearby historic Land’s End house that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. James W. Laird, who resides in Florida and had a summer residence on part of the property, was ...