Ocean City seeks new bids for decorative lighting downtown

Ocean City is seeking new bids for a lighting contract on Asbury Avenue that will represent the first phase of plans to brighten up a large section of the downtown shopping district.

The bids are for Asbury Avenue from Sixth Street to Seventh Street, representing the first block where the decorative lighting will be installed.

However, there was a typographical error for one of the quantities in the bid specifications that first went out in November. As a result, the city reissued a corrected request for new bid proposals, city spokesman Doug Bergen explained.

“We’re expected to open the new bids on Dec. 23 and potentially award a contract in January. That would put us on track to have the new lights installed before summer,” Bergen said.

Overall, the city plans to make the Asbury Avenue shopping corridor more inviting by installing decorative lighting from Sixth to 14th streets.

“We’ll always remain committed to maintaining and improving our downtown in the same way that we take care of all Ocean City’s other treasures, including the beach, Boardwalk and bay,” Mayor Jay Gillian said in a statement.

New lights will be added one block at a time each year between Sixth and 14th streets until the project is finished. The project will begin with the block between Sixth and Seventh streets.

Gillian described it as a state-of-the-art system that will allow the city to control the lighting levels downtown.

    Temporary 20-foot-high poles are used now to hang the holiday garland above Asbury Avenue in the downtown shopping district.
  

The new lighting will not only illuminate the shopping district, but also replace the existing fixtures that are not tall enough to provide adequate height for the holiday wreaths, bows and garland that create the festive atmosphere each year during the Christmas shopping season.

“The posts will be able to accommodate our holiday decorations,” Gillian said of the lights.

For years, the city has installed temporary, 20-foot-high poles to provide a way to display the Christmas wreaths, wrapped garland and bright red bows. They are taken down every January.

The new light fixtures will be tall enough so that the temporary poles will no longer be needed, city officials have said.

Also as part of the lighting project, a separate, low-height bollard system will be used for speakers, preventing noise from disturbing residents who live on the second floor of downtown buildings, Gillian noted.

The bollard system in the lighting will allow the city to play festive music on the street level instead of from buildings.

In the past, city officials generally estimated that the project would cost about $1 million for every two blocks of new lighting. Bergen, though, noted that the city will not publicly release any estimates for the cost of the lighting contract between Sixth and Seventh streets before the bids are received.