SEA ISLE CITY – Katherine Custer, director, Department of Community Services, presented a summary of options related to the repurposing of the municipality’s former school building, at 4501 Park Ave. June 11.
“This plan is the result of a lot of hard work by a 10-member committee composed of civic groups, businesses, city administration and council, and parents as to how we should proceed with utilizing this building,” said Custer. “We’ve talked about a plan for some time and now we’re ready to really decide where we want to go.
“Let me emphasize that this presentation is only the first initial step and that we are very eager to have as much public input and feedback as possible about the choices we have,” she continued.
Custer described the history of the building, which was built in 1971 and used as a school until 2012 when Sea Isle City students started attending Ocean City schools as a cost-saving move.
In autumn 2012, with the resulting devastation from Superstorm Sandy, many of the city’s public buildings were damaged, including the school.
“Everyone has agreed that our basic plan should focus on using the school as a recreation center. It needs a lot of basic work, however, including HVAC, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant bathrooms, and the gym has no seating,” said Custer.
“The city also is using the building for a number of storage needs including our beach wheelchairs, which are large and bulky,” she added.
Three options were presented:
* Renovate the building using the existing footprint.
“With this option, the city is limited to spending about 50% of the market value of the structure, about $2 million, due to the fact that the school is not Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) compliant with floodplain requirements,” said Custer.
* Demolish the building and create a facility that meets all the needs of a nice recreation and community center with a modern, new gym, overhead running track and other space that would cost from $13-16 million. Custer said that had unanimous committee support.
* Similar to the second option but includes a six-lane pool.
She continued the last option “Would cost about $17 to 20 million. There would be annual costs in addition to the capital costs of building to cover pool staffing and maintenance estimated at about $500,000 to $1 million annually.
“We are at the very first step of introducing options and will be offering various opportunities for residents to provide their input and comments including today. We want to gather as many opinions as possible,” Custer added.
Council President Jack Gibson opened the floor to residents.
Speakers supported the idea of demolishing the school, rather than any retrofitting, and for it to serve as a recreation center, but seemed to be divided about the idea of a pool.
Resident David Cohan mentioned that he ran a recreation center near Philadelphia with an indoor pool. “What a pain the pool is to maintain. There are always problems, especially with senior citizens in the pool and adequate staffing. So I am not in favor of including a pool.”
Resident Tina McCardy said, “I would love a pool included in our town. Right now, I and many others from Sea Isle go to the Ocean City indoor pool and we’d all rather pay our fees to our own town rather than there. For anyone looking to swim regularly, for children who want swimming lessons and for overall recreation swimming there are limited times and it’s usually very full at the Ocean City pool.”
Other speakers against the idea of including the pool noted that parking could be an issue; that any membership dues would not cover the large expense of operating the pool; and that the county has indoor pools located not too far from Sea Isle that are adequate alternatives.
Residents who supported the pool wanted more activities for families, both those who live in Sea Isle as well as for visitors to make the municipality a place more enjoyable for all.
One non-resident owner said he believed those who did not live year-round in Sea Isle would not support any bonding to finance the pool.
John Divney, a former council member, summed up the discussion: “The committee has really done a thorough job and what we now need are more details for each option to really be able to evaluate cost against benefit.”
In response, Business Administrator George Savastano commented, “I want to commend Kathy (Custer) and the committee for their work. Everyone is fully committed to making the facility the best it can be and really serve the community.
“As Kathy (Custer) has pointed out, these are only concepts. Nothing is in final for this very important project. We’ll be putting together another get-together, probably on a Saturday morning, in the near future, for the next round of discussion and more in-depth details on what our options are,” he continued.
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.
Villas – Expect the spelling police /unfounded anyway as it's a fat finger thing…..to reappear in full force on here. It's all they have left along with calling us uneducated and low income.
