By MADDY VITALE
Carey Stadium, the hub of Ocean City High School sports and some college sports events, needs a new scoreboard fast.
The old scoreboard has been repaired and repaired again, officials say. It is antiquated, and between difficulty finding parts and malfunctions, city and school officials have agreed for a while that a new scoreboard is desperately needed.
But a few options have been discussed by Mayor Jay Gillian’s administration and City Council.
The city planned on purchasing a new scoreboard at a price of around $100,000. In May, the city announced that it would be receiving a donation of a new scoreboard by Tryce Organization LLC along with the installation.
The digital scoreboard would be one-sided and would be available for all city events in the stadium, as well as other sporting events as permitted by the city, according to a City Council resolution.
But in the meantime, there needs to be a temporary scoreboard.
“We’re aware that the existing scoreboard is no longer operational. The city is pricing out rentals and short-term replacement options,” Gillian said in May. “We’re working with the school district and hope to have a solution in place as quickly as possible.”
During a special City Council meeting June 15, the Council approved a resolution to pay for a temporary scoreboard in the near future.
The city is paying $16,068 for a temporary 24-foot-by-8-foot scoreboard from Varsity Scoreboards, a Kentucky-based company. It will cost an estimated $13,220 for the installation.
Councilman Tom Rotondi asked at the meeting whether the new scoreboard would be of the same design as the one originally planned at Carey Stadium.
Gillian said that the new scoreboard would only be temporary, until the donated one “comes to fruition.”
Initially, the city talked about a plan to purchase a $2 million, two-sided scoreboard that would be used for sports as well as concerts, movies and other special events.
But in December, Gillian said that it was agreed by his administration and City Council that it was too expensive an endeavor. He also it would have taken up to 10 years for the scoreboard to pay for itself through sponsorship and advertising.
Over the last few years, Carey Stadium has hosted some of the top high school football teams in the region in the “Battle of the Beach” showcase.
The stadium complex is also rented out by some college athletic programs for their workouts, including Villanova University’s football team.
