Construction of a new skateboard park in Ocean City NJ is expected to begin May 18.
Councilman Mike DeVlieger said Sunday that the contractor anticipates completing the job within 90 days. The park could be open by mid-August.
City Council on April 23 awarded a $732,284 contract to Spohn Ranch Inc. of Los Angeles, Calif., for the supply and installation of the new skate park. Spohn Ranch was the sole bidder on the job, which came in just under the estimated $750,000 for the work.
The park will be constructed on city-owned property next to the Ocean City Fire Department at Fifth Street and Asbury Avenue.
The new concrete facility will replace a park at Sixth Street and Boardwalk that was dismantled in 2011 due to safety concerns.
“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 in April. “There has been an extensive amount of input provided by the local skating community.”
The final design of the park includes a bowl and snake run situated near the West Avenue side of the park with the entrance on the Asbury Avenue side.
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“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.
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 approved a capital plan that calls for borrowing $250,000 for the project.
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