By Donald Wittkowski
Nights in the “Park” may be a little quieter this summer in Sea Isle City.
In previous summers, both the city and the Sea Isle Chamber of Commerce and Revitalization sponsored an array of free, family-friendly shows throughout the week in Excursion Park, including outdoor concerts, dance parties, movies and family fun nights.
But the city will go solo this summer. City spokeswoman Katherine Custer said she didn’t know the reason why the Chamber has withdrawn from the nighttime entertainment lineup.
Christopher Glancey, the Chamber president, explained that his organization is stepping back after the city made scheduling changes that included taking over the Monday night slot.
“The city wanted to do something different on Monday nights,” he said.
Last year, the Chamber had “Mondays at the Park” nights. Activities included kid-friendly amusements such as face painting and inflatable bounce houses.
For this summer, the Chamber’s entertainment will be replaced by city-sponsored family dance parties on Monday night. The city will also have a “Movies Under the Stars” night on Fridays and live concerts on Saturdays, Custer said.
Last summer, the Chamber also held “Family Fun Nights” and teen-oriented acoustic open mic nights on Thursdays. The “Family Fun Nights” were held from 6:30-8:30 p.m., followed by the open mic shows from 9-10:30 p.m.
Glancey said the Chamber has decided not to bring back the Thursday night entertainment lineup because the open mic nights ran into conflicts with the city’s outdoor noise ordinance and had to shut down earlier at night than what teenagers wanted.
Although the Chamber will not offer entertainment at night, it will continue to sponsor tourist-friendly daytime attractions throughout the summer, including the popular Farmers Market, an annual fashion show and a “Santa in July” event, Glancey said.
The idea behind the free nighttime entertainment at Excursion Park is to draw more families and visitors to town during Sea Isle’s all-important summer vacation season. After the shows wrap up, city officials hope that tourists will mingle around downtown for a while, spending their money at the local shops and restaurants.
City officials and the Chamber of Commerce agreed to a new start time for the nightly shows this summer in a compromise that is designed to keep business flowing. This year, the entertainment will get underway at 7:30 p.m., a half hour later than last summer.
In previous years, the shows began at 8 p.m. However, some people thought the 8 p.m. start time was too late, so the city shifted back to 7 p.m. last summer in hopes of generating extra business for the downtown merchants.
“We thought it would help foot traffic downtown,” Custer said.
But Glancey said merchants located near Excursion Park told the Chamber that they had more business when the shows started at 8 p.m. Armed with that information, the Chamber lobbied to have the former 8 p.m. start time reinstated by the city.
After much debate among city officials and the Chamber, a 7:30 p.m. compromise was struck for this summer.
Custer said the 7:30 p.m. start time will allow families to relax on the beach a little longer before heading to the shows. After the shows, there will still be enough time for families to do some shopping before the stores close for the night.
Glancey said it is unclear whether fewer nightly shows this summer in Excursion Park will ultimately hurt tourism.
“You never know until you get feedback from the tourists,” he said. “We’ll see how it plays out this summer.”
