By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Sharon McCormick walked inside the Sea Isle City Welcome Center on Monday afternoon to pick up 16 beach tags she had preordered for her family.
She had no idea how significant it was for her to simply enter the building.
“The last time I came down here was in October,” said McCormick, who lives in Fort Washington, Pa., and has a summer vacation home in Sea Isle.
McCormick wasn’t aware that Sea Isle has had its municipal buildings closed to the public since March because of the pandemic. The city reopened the buildings to visitors for the first time Monday now that New Jersey’s coronavirus cases continue to drop and vaccines for COVID-19 have emerged.
“It was a long winter for all of us,” McCormick said, alluding to the coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions.
For the time being, anyone from the public entering Sea Isle’s municipal buildings will be required to wear a mask and observe social distancing, city spokeswoman Katherine Custer said.
“We’re going to continue practicing social distancing. It’s important,” Custer said.
At the Welcome Center, for instance, no more than five people at a time will be allowed in the lobby, she noted.
Social distancing signs remain up throughout Sea Isle.
On Monday, Gov. Phil Murphy announced that New Jersey is lifting its indoor mask mandate and social distancing requirements starting Friday, May 28, for people who are fully vaccinated.
People who haven’t been vaccinated must continue to wear masks indoors and observe social distancing. The state will not require people to show proof of their vaccinations, the governor said.
McCormick, meanwhile, was greeted by Sea Isle’s beach tag director, Pat Allen, who wore a mask and stood behind a clear barrier at the Welcome Center’s counter.
“We’ve been very busy,” Allen said of the number of people who stopped inside to buy beach tags Monday.
Previously, people could only purchase beach tags through a window in the front of the Welcome Center.
“It’s nice to see people inside again, but to be honest with you, the window worked out very well,” Allen said. “I think people got used to not being able to go inside the building.”
City Hall was among the Sea Isle buildings that fully reopened Monday. Since March, public access to City Hall was restricted to the first floor lobby. During that time, visitors conducting business at the three-story building had to call the city departments and have employees come down to the lobby to meet them.
Visitors now have access to all three floors of City Hall, but still must wear a mask and observe social distancing.
Genell Ferrilli, secretary for Sea Isle’s planning and zoning boards, was surprised that the first day visitors were allowed back in her office actually turned out to be a quiet one.
“People have been saying, ‘I can’t wait to see you again,’” Ferrilli said of what local residents have been telling her leading up to City Hall's reopening.
Although most municipal buildings have reopened to the public, there are some exceptions.
Custer said the gymnasium inside Sea Isle’s former public school on Park Road remains closed because the vinyl floor can become slippery in high humidity while the building’s air-conditioning system remains broken.
The recreation building at the Dealy Field athletic complex also is closed. Normally, the building is where tennis players pay their fees to use the courts at Dealy Field. Instead of going inside the building, they will be able to pay their tennis fees through a window, Custer said.
