RIO GRANDE – Once home to a gas station, the empty lot at the intersection of Routes 9 and 47, in Rio Grande, has long been an eyesore in the busy retail area of Middle Township. A large area of cement, giving way in places to hardy weeds and rung by minimal areas of grass, the site sits at one of the community’s most prominent locations, seen by thousands of tourists on their way to Wildwood or Cape May.
With the redeveloped Okie Wisting Recreational complex nearby, and construction underway for the planned Cape May County Commons, rejuvenating the former, largely vacant, Kmart shopping center next door, the empty lot calls for attention.
At Middle Township’s Committee meeting Dec. 16, Engineer Vincent Orlando presented a concept design for turning the site into a pocket park. The design concept called for extensive landscaping, seating areas, a section with a shade structure and a water fountain.
The meeting was the start of a process to seek funding and design ideas for the site, but “it starts the conversation,” said Committee member Theron “Ike” Gandy.
