Sea Isle's Mountain of Dirt Has Special Purpose

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Psst! Wanna talk about some dirt in Sea Isle City? The town has plenty of it. In what may very well be the Mount Everest of dirt, a massive pile of caramel-colored soil is surrounded by a chain-link construction fence where Sea Isle’s old public school once stood on Park Road. Although dirt usually isn’t held in high regard, this stuff is very important – and valuable. The city awarded a $276,867 contract for the soil and related work. The huge amount of dirt is part of the construction of Sea Isle’s proposed $20 million community recreation center, a project tentatively scheduled to open in 2025 on the site of the now-demolished public school. The dirt is going through a process known as “surcharging,” which will allow the soil to become compact enough for the foundation of the community center’s parking area to be built on top of it without settling. There are plans to connect the parking area with a ramp and steps that will rise gradually to give easy access to the building’s front entrance, city spokeswoman Katherine Custer said. The caramel-colored soil is going through a process known as "surcharging." For more than three weeks, Monday through Friday, a steady flow of dump trucks delivered loads of dirt to the site for the surcharging process, Custer said. “That’s a lot of trucks coming in,” she said in an interview. Custer noted that the city’s engineer is awaiting word from the contractor to find out exactly how much dirt has been delivered to the site. The soil is considered “clean fill,” meaning it does not contain toxins, organic matter or large debris. The surcharging process will take about four months to complete, Custer said. Meanwhile, the city is preparing to go out to bid this summer for the community center’s construction. “There are a lot of components to the building. There are a lot of moving parts,” she said of the complexities of such a large project. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in the fall, Custer said. Barring major delays with the project, the community center is expected to open sometime in 2025. “That’s still the goal,” Custer said of the 2025 completion date. An artist's rendering depicts the community recreation center that will be where the former school was located on Park Road. (Courtesy of Sea Isle City) The community center will occupy the same footprint of the old school on the block bordered by Park Road, Central Avenue, 45th Street and 46th Street. Architectural renderings of the community center unveiled earlier by the city show a two-story building featuring a glossy facade overlooking Central Avenue. Sea Isle officials say the building will include attractive architecture to blend in with the rest of the neighborhood. Mature trees surrounding the former school site have been saved and will be incorporated into the community center’s landscaping designs. The building’s design reflects its dual role as a community center and recreation facility. There will be a large gymnasium, indoor walkway and workout space for recreation. The building will also include space that local community groups could use for meetings, events and other activities. “We’ve got big ambitions for our people, and rightly so. The people are so deserving,” Custer said of the project’s benefits for the entire community. The old school's front sign is one of the few things still standing on the site.