Post Commander Bob Marzulli and Mayor Jay Gillian sign a lease agreement for $1 a year.
City Council gave final approval on July 24 to leasing city-owned property to the American Legion for $1 a year, so it can build a bigger post.
Mayor Jay Gillian asked the veterans in attendance not to thank the city.
"The thanks has to come from all of us in Ocean City," Gillian said of the group's service to the nation.
Gillian said the ceremony should be a call to action to the entire community to rally behind the post as it raises money and volunteer help to construct the new facility.
"It's going to take the entire community," he said.
Post Commander Bob Marzulli said sketches for a one-story, 7,000-square-foot building are being made. The building will have to be elevated to meet flood zone requirements, and ramps or possibly an elevator will help members gain access. The facility will include a kitchen, meeting rooms, a game room and an office.
The post will start a fundraising effort and seek volunteer assistance to make the project happen. (Anybody interested in donating or helping can contact Marzulli at [email protected].)
The post currently leases space at 3304 Bay Avenue from Cape May County. But with 355 American Legion members, 100 members of the Sons of the American Legion and another 100 members of the Auxiliary, the veterans organization needs more space.Under a new 50-year lease officially signed on Friday, the post will be responsible for any construction costs. The use of the leased 70-by-100-foot building will be restricted to “the housing, recreation, education or health care of veterans of any war of the United States.” If that use were ever to change, the lease will be terminated.
City officials and veterans leaders spoke about the importance of the new facility and the importance of the American Legion to Ocean City.
City Council President Tony Wilson, Councilman Keith Hartzell and Freeholder Marie Hayes were among those who spoke.
