SEA ISLE CITY – In his weekly report to the city council Tuesday, Oct. 10, Mayor Leonard Desiderio said the city expects to get state permission to advertise for the construction of the new community center “within the next week or two.”
The $20 million construction project has been stalled as the city negotiates with the state comptroller whose permission is required, Desiderio said back in April, due to the magnitude of the building project. At the Oct. 10 council meeting, Desiderio said, “The approval process from the state comptroller has taken much longer than we anticipated.”
Assuming that approval is imminent, the city still faces a bidding and award process that will push construction into 2024. The city has earlier estimated that construction of the community center and recreation facility would take approximately 20 months.
The new center will occupy the footprint of the now demolished city school on Park Road. The school opened in 1971 but declining enrollments led to its closure in 2012.
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
