Skateboard Park, Ice Rink? Temple Students Offer Designs for Cape May’s Parks, Trails

CAPE MAY — Students from Temple University Department of Environmental Design have narrowed down conceptual designs for improving Cape May’s parks, which include a skating rink and skateboard park.
At a March 4 town meeting town meeting, 30 students, who are seniors in a landscape architecture program, offered four concepts for Harborview Park, two images for Rotary Park, ideas for a trail through the city and a park near the elementary school.
Mayor Edward J. Mahaney Jr. asked residents attending the meeting to vote for their favorite designs, which will be translated into construction drawings by Temple students.
The mayor called it a major contribution from Temple since normally only a conceptual design is given to a municipality and a city engineer must create the drawings at considerable expense.
Instead of a design for the future Sewell Point Sanctuary in East Cape May, which the city is still in negotiating a purchase, Temple students provided conceptual designs for an open space park on Lafayette Street between St. John’s Street and Cape May Elementary School’s parking lot.
Mahaney said the site could be created in five to 10 years including environmental and educational parameters.
“That way the city will have one centralized, recreational area that will be for people of all ages…” he said.
Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) will be cleaning up contamination from a former coal-gasification plant that operated on part of the site. The city will own the land after a clean up and acquire some additional parcels and work in conjunction with the elementary school to create a “vast recreational area,” said Mahaney.
He said it is the only active recreation site in the city other than the beaches.
Tempe student Matt Shearon said behind a forested area on the property was a “beautiful pristine wetland.” He said JCP&L would install a filtration system in the contaminated portion and cap it with one foot of clean soil.
The park would retain a dog park, playground, basketball courts and a baseball diamond. New proposed features include a skateboard park, bocce and shuffleboard courts, a multi-purpose field that could accommodate football and lacrosse and sitting and picnic areas.
Walking trails would loop into the wetlands and the site would include parking for up to 65 cars. Another suggested design included a community garden, an area that could accommodate a farmer’s market and a fountain.
Student Robin Irizarry introduced ideas for Harborview Park that could include a children’s play area, a shaded portion, and a pier into Cape May Harbor. The park would have an overall low maintenance design making good use of rainwater with a cistern. His design included a seat wall, a memorial garden and a rain garden. Other design ideas included a butterfly garden, a children’s play area and a sloped grass meadow.
Student Scott Fisher said he wanted to bring nature back to Harborview Park. His design included an “educational garden,” which would label and identify every plant used in the park.
Fisher suggested a wrap around pier with perching structure for birds and a series of seating areas offering unobstructed views of the harbor with chaise lounge type chairs.
Student Jen Gilbert proposed a design with a “huge” rain garden and alley of trees followed by scalloped steps topped by a gazebo. Beyond the gazebo would be a meadow.
Gilbert also proposed including birdhouses. Her design included a 90-foot long pier into the water.
Student Denise Wood included a wooden pedestrian bridge in her design, coin-operated telescopes, cutouts for fishing poles on the pier and a table to cut bait. Her plan reused a number of materials currently in the park.
Temple student Jennifer Vaccaro presented design concepts for Rotary Park that would add two brick crosswalks, one from Jackson Street, the other from Lafayette Street. She proposed a sculpture at one end of the park and relocating the flagpole and memorial.
A long promenade would run along Lafayette Street bordered on both sides by sycamore trees. She said a large, brick plaza would surround the gazebo, which would have its wooden railings removed to offer a better view of performers.
Student Kali Whyte proposed a large lawn space and an ice skating rink that could accommodate 60 skaters. The rink would be disassembled each spring, she said.
Whyte proposed a long retaining wall along the lawn to be illuminated at night.
Other proposals included a fountain at ground level and a shaded plaza “café” area with tables and chairs. All the designs included use of rainwater with cisterns.
All the Rotary Park designs included eliminating parking on Lyle Lane on the park side of the lot.
Students also showed prototypes of a Cape May guidebook and Web site and designs for signage. The proposal included districts for the city: Harbor, East Beach, West Beach, Rotary Park and Museum District.
The guidebook would include maps, listings of businesses, an explanation of Cape May’s architectural styles and a brief history of the town. The book would include “things to do” and short trips from Cape May such as Historic Cold Spring Village and Cape May Winery.
The students and two professors will return for their fourth and final town meeting May 5 with final designs.