New Memorial Benches Will Sit Along Boardwalk

WILDWOOD — Strollers on the Boardwalk here will have new places to rest their weary bones as well as new places to hang tributes to their loved ones.
Lou Ferrara, director of the city’s Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ), made a Powerpoint presentation regarding a new memorial bench program to the city commissioners at a Wednesday, March 10 meeting.
Ferrara told commissioners that the city has 150 “beautiful” Keystone Ridge Design Breakwater benches.
The benches are eight feet long, made of steel and double-dipped in seashore-grade Nantucket Blue finish that “protects each piece of furniture from chipping, cracking and UVA damage while providing unparalleled corrosion resistance,” according to the manufacturer. The benches also have an anti-skateboard ridge to discourage skaters from grinding their boards along the edges causing damage.
They cost $989.25 each and were purchased through a UEZ grant.
The UEZ program within the state Department of Community Affairs promotes revitalization in designated urban communities through public and private investment, according to the UEZ Web page.
The Wildwood UEZ has an additional $10,000 to purchase a new engraver and materials for commemorative plaques for the benches. All engraving and installation work will be completed by the city’s Public Works Department, Ferrara said.
The memorial benches will be a regular source of revenue for the city, Ferrara said.
The proposed cost for the memorial bench plaques will be $1,000 for 10 years, $600 for five years and $400 for three years — pricing comparable to that in North Wildwood. The two communities purchased the new benches jointly at the end of last season, Ferrara said.
There is a great demand for the memorial plaques.
“There have been over 160 requests from the public over the past year,” Ferrara said.
There are 150 memorials on the existing wooden benches on the Boardwalk. Ferrara said the existing memorials would be reproduced and placed on the new benches for three years at no additional cost to their owners.
The new benches have three-inch slats on the backrest. Because there was more room for the plaques on the old benches, “every effort will be made to reproduce what was on the old plaque.”
“At the end of the three years, the relationship with the city will end, or a new agreement can be signed to extend the agreement,” Ferrara said.
“If the resident is not happy with the new arrangement, they can pick-up an original wood bench and the old plaque, and the relationship with the city will end. There will be two plaques on each of the new benches.”
The new eight-foot benches are too long for the covered tram stops, Ferrara said. He suggested purchasing 25 four-foot benches to be sold as single memorials.
Life expectancy for new benches is 10 years. According to Ferrara, this proposal will produce revenue to replace benches as they age. When the bench is declared no longer safe, the city will move the plaque to an alternate bench. Funds should be reserved to replace old benches and maintain our existing stock.
Mayor Gary DeMarzo directed Ferrara to work on a proposed ordinance for the fee schedule for the memorial benches to present at the next regular meeting.