City Council voted 5-0 Thursday (April 9) to seek bids for the supply and installation of a skateboard park on city-owned property next to the Ocean City Fire Department at Fifth Street and Asbury Avenue.
Councilman Pete Guinosso recused himself from the vote as co-president of the Ocean City Ecumenical Council, which runs the charitable Clothes Closet adjacent to the proposed park. Councilman Pete Madden was not present.
The search for a contractor to build the skate park is a final step in the quest to replace a park that was dismantled in 2011 due to safety concerns.
“Our intent is to be prepared for summer,” Councilman Mike DeVlieger said on Tuesday.
DeVlieger led a group of a group of skaters, city officials and community members in planning the park. He acknowledged that delays could occur, but said he maintains a hope that construction could be complete by summer.
__________
Sign up for OCNJ Daily’s free morning newsletter.
__________
“The design was developed to provide a park with an appropriate degree of challenge and fun balanced with safety,” Mike Dattilo, assistant to Mayor Jay Gillian, wrote in a memo to City Council. “There has been an extensive amount of input provided by the local skating community.”
“The administration has also reviewed these plans with the Ecumenical Council in consideration for their concerns regarding the operation of the Clothes Closet,” Dattilo wrote. “There is an ample buffer between the park and the Clothes Closet and this area will be heavily landscaped.”
The Clothes Closet, which provides donated clothing to families in need, sits between the Fire Department and the proposed skate park.
Impact on the Clothes Closet and the loss of public parking spaces on the lot where the skate park will be constructed were the primary issues raised by the public during the planning process for the park.
DeVlieger said all options to replace existing parking spaces remain viable.
He said the final design of the park — provided by Spohn Ranch consultants — differs slightly from the most recent plan shared with the public. A bowl and snake run are situated near the West Avenue side of the park with the entrance on the Asbury Avenue side, farther away from the Clothes Closet.
Ocean City has approved the spending of $750,000 for construction of the park.
The city will be reimbursed $500,000 from a Green Acres Cape May County Recreation Grant that was announced in September 2014, and City Council had already approved a capital plan that calls for borrowing $250,000 for the project.
Read more: Comcast to Stay in Ocean City After Yielding to Skate Park
Read more: Ocean City Gives Final OK to $750,000 Skateboard Park
