By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Sea Isle City is giving itself a nearly $1 million facelift by adding decorative lighting that will make the downtown district and other commercial areas a more inviting place to shop, dine and simply to get out and enjoy the sights.
In its last meeting of 2019, City Council approved a $997,350 contract Tuesday with Ronald Janney Electrical Contractor Inc. of Estell Manor, N.J., the low bidder for the lighting project.
The decorative lights will be similar to the black, Victorian-style street lamps that illuminate the John F. Kennedy Boulevard entranceway and some of the blocks along Landis Avenue in the heart of downtown.
"It enhances Sea Isle," Mayor Leonard Desiderio said. "It's more aesthetically pleasing. I think people will really like it."
Desiderio noted that the new lights will continue the city's efforts to brighten up the Landis Avenue business corridor and other commercial hubs in town to make them more visually appealing.
"The new lighting unifies other areas of the downtown," he said.
More decorative lighting will be added along the Landis Avenue business corridor and other commercial hubs in town.
Under the contract approved Tuesday, the city will add decorative lights to four areas of town. They include:
- Both sides of Park Road from JFK Boulevard to 44th Street, which includes the Fish Alley neighborhood, an enclave of family-owned restaurants and fishing boats rooted in Sea Isle's early history as a small commercial seaport.
- Both sides of Landis Avenue between 49th and 51st streets along the city's downtown corridor.
- The west side of Landis Avenue between 59th and 65th streets.
- Both sides of 63rd Street from Landis to Central Avenue.
The project is expected to get underway in February and be completed in time for the summer tourism season, Desiderio said.
Separately, Sea Isle is already in the midst of installing decorative lights to the oceanfront Promenade between 35th and 44th streets. They will replace the Promenade's existing utilitarian streetlight-looking lights that are believed to be at least 40 years old.
The city has been sprucing up the Promenade with new lights to make the popular tourist haven both safer and more attractive.
