Borough Ponders Future of Public Works Building

CAPE MAY POINT – Borough of Cape May Point Commissioners authorized the purchase of a Sunset Boulevard property it is considering making the new home of its Department of Public Works (DPW), which would allow for sprucing up one of the borough entrances. 
Borough Administrator Steve O’Connor confirmed May 12 the commissioners had authorized an ordinance the night before, for the purchase of 550 Sunset Blvd., for $309,000 ($300,000 plus 3-percent commission).
“It was a good price – it was originally $450,000,” O’Connor said.
The property, which includes an as-built house, is located across Sunset Boulevard from the borough’s entrance, adjacent to the Cape May Water Department’s desalination plant.
O’Connor said the borough had periodically received complaints about the general unattractiveness of the Point’s DPW facility, a steel pole-barn structure on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Lighthouse Avenue. He said people had been telling the Board of Commissioners they would like to see a more attractive borough entrance, minus the DPW equipment parked outside the building.
According to O’Connor, the borough is forming two committees to consider how it wants to move forward with the project.
“The first committee will consider the cost and practicality of consolidating Public Works there (550 Sunset Blvd.),” O’Connor said. “The second committee would consider what to do with the existing Public Works building.”
O’Connor said if the DPW is moved across the street the borough still has a functional, although unimpressive building at the Lighthouse Avenue entrance. The second committee, he said, would consider what might be done to use the building and make the Lighthouse gateway more attractive. He said at the May 11 commissioners meeting there was discussion of making the steel DPW building a community center.
“It could be a place where organizations, the taxpayers association, the Civic Club, the Environmental Commission, and other groups could meet; and be a general place to socialize,” O’Connor said.
Currently, many groups, boards, and commissioners meet on the second floor of the Cape May Point Volunteer Fire Company building on Yale Avenue. The borough pays $3,600 per year in rent for space in the firehouse for municipal meetings. O’Connor said he thinks if the idea to rehabilitate the DPW building and convert it into a community center becomes reality, the center would be used more than the firehouse space is now. He said the single-story center would allow better access to residents than the second floor of the fire hall.
O’Connor said no plans for a community center would be created without ample public input.
“We are now seeking public input. First, we will be developing a financial profile, the cost of consolidation, and decide if what we are talking about is practical,” O’Connor said. “Then we will have to discuss whether we want a new building or to rehabilitate the existing one. We will probably bring in an architect and look at a design and cost for the building.”
O’Connor said he believes the borough is leaning toward remodeling the existing building, but that will be determined after hearing from the public. He said the project would probably be explored over the next 18 to 24 months.