The Edgartown Yacht Club may soon get its first big makeover in decades.

In response to periodic flooding from storms and tides, the club has proposed raising the seaward portion of its wharf approximately two additional feet above the water. The proposal also calls for moderately expanding the landward portions, rebuilding the surrounding deck and replacing the floating docks on the south side.

At a public hearing of the town conservation commission on Wednesday, architect Patrick Ahearn said the project would begin in September of 2018, with completion expected by the following Memorial Day.

Dick Barbini of the firm Schofield, Barbini and Hoehn, who is also working on the project, said the goal was to reduce the frequency of flooding in the club’s dining room, which overlooks Edgartown Harbor and now sits just a few feet above the water.

Plan calls for raising the seaward portion of the clubhouse by two feet. — Mark Lovewell

“When the superstorm comes, it’s not going to stop that,” he said of the proposal to elevate the wharf. “But they feel that raising it two feet, based on the history down there, it won’t flood as much as it does now.” He added that raising it any higher had been ruled out in light of what he assumed would result in a public outcry.

Yacht club manager Bill Roman, who attended the hearing pointed to moon tides and heavy winds as the main causes of flooding over the years.

“We have good years, we have bad years,” he said. “This past year we had the king tide, so that weekend we ended up getting flooded a lot. But the year before that, barely anything. So it’s very, very fickle.”

Originally built in 1928, the clubhouse helped usher in a new era for the Edgartown Yacht Club, which formed in 1905 but had all but disbanded during the first World War. Its original clubhouse and pier had occupied a parcel of rented land where the Harborside Inn now stands.

An account in the Gazette from July 1928 called the new clubhouse “the most unusual on the whole Atlantic coast,” with its stunning proximity to the water, and timbers and shingles made to look old.

Of course, proximity to the water also has its downsides, as became especially evident in the hurricanes of 1938, 1944 and 1954. In an interview with Martha’s Vineyard Magazine a few years ago, the late Sandy Fisher recalled seeing waves breaking over the clubhouse roof during the hurricane of 1938. And the high-water mark in 1954 measured about waist-high inside the dining room, according to a report in the Gazette. Hurricane Bob in 1991 flooded the dining room with about a foot and a half of water — slightly less than the Blizzard of 1978.

The clubhouse underwent extensive renovations in 1955, including the addition of a second story on the landward portion that greatly altered its appearance from land. The changes included a new kitchen and offices, and a dining room for employees.

But the renovations next year will require a whole new level of engineering.

Mr. Roman said the yacht club has been consulting with International Chimney Corporation of Buffalo, N.Y., the company that engineered the relocation of the Gay Head Light in 2015 and the 8,000 square foot Schifter house on Chappaquiddick in 2013.

Plans include elevating the main dining area on a series of hydraulic jacks positioned atop the existing structure. A series of steel piles would then be installed around the edges of the wharf to support a bed of steel beams. Once the new floor is in place — two feet higher than before — the walls and roof will be lowered back down. The existing wooden piles will be cut off rather than extracted, in order to preserve the integrity of the harbor floor, and new ones will be installed.

Mr. Barbini pointed out at the hearing that while the dining room area would end up two feet higher than before, it would be about flush with the front part of the clubhouse.

The project still needs approval from the town building inspector, planning board and conservation commission, in addition to the State Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers. The town historic commission has approved the proposed expansion, and Mr. Barbini said the town marine advisory committee has also given the green light.

The conservation commission continued its public hearing to June 28.