By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Sea Isle City’s municipal playground at John F. Kennedy Boulevard and Central Avenue is a veritable children’s dream world of swings, slides and a fun house.
One thing it lacks, however, is a shaded area that allows the kids to take cover from the blazing sun.
With the summer season fast approaching, parents appeared at a special City Council meeting on Saturday to urge Sea Isle officials to build some type of shade protection to keep the children cool and safe from sunburn.
Lauren Oliver, who lives on 43rd Street and is the mother of two boys, presented city officials with a petition signed by more than 200 people imploring the city to add more shade cover at the playground.
City Business Administrator George Savastano said during the meeting that Sea Isle is exploring the possibility of adding some type of shade protection at all of the municipal playgrounds, not just the one at JFK Boulevard.
He explained that the city is looking into the cost and logistics of building a shade cover or structure before making any final decisions.
After listening to Savastano, Oliver expressed relief that the city has put the issue “back on the table” after months of uncertainty.
In early 2021, city officials initially considered erecting a fabric “shade sail,” measuring 45 feet by 54 feet and standing 15 feet high, to give kids and their parents plenty of cover at the playground at JFK Boulevard.
Months later, though, the city backed away from that idea after deciding that the sprawling, $95,000 shade sail would have been too elaborate. City officials then began considering other ways to keep children nice and cool while they are playing outdoors.
Savastano said one possibility is building a shade structure and seating areas next to the playground. The city is working with the Recreation Commission on ideas.
During the busy summer tourism season, the playgrounds become a big attraction for families. In addition to the one at JFK Boulevard, the city also has a playground at the beach entrance at 85th Street and one at the Dealy Field recreation complex near 60th Street.
Now, the city will also consider adding more shade protection at the playgrounds at 85th Street and Dealy Field.
At the JFK Boulevard playground, the fun house and some gazebo-style coverings for some of the playground equipment already provide some shade from the sun.
But parents want the city to do even more to protect the children. Some type of shade cover would also help to keep the playground equipment from becoming too hot to touch in summer.
In 2020, the city added a new spongy, rubber surface at the JFK Boulevard playground to give children a safe and soft cushion if they fall off the slides, swings or other equipment. Shade cover would be another safety improvement.
The special City Council meeting Saturday was dominated by a discussion about recreation programs and activities for children and teens. The meeting was part of Sea Isle’s annual Community Day celebration, which is traditionally held on a Saturday in May.
During remarks to Council, Sea Isle resident Steve Trulli proposed having a section of Excursion Park turned into a play area this summer featuring four to six small-style amusement rides for children ages 2 to 6.
“We always need more things for the children,” Trulli said in an interview after the meeting.
Trulli said he has spoken to the company that operates the kiddie rides during Sea Isle’s Skimmer Weekend Festival and Fall Family Festival about his idea. He said the company indicated it would be willing to operate rides over the summer in Excursion Park, too.
“They said they would take care of everything,” Trulli said.
Savastano told Trulli that the city would be willing to consider his proposal. But first, city officials would have to make sure that any amusement rides would fit in with Sea Isle’s other summer events or activities held in Excursion Park, such as the Farmers Market and the outdoor Movies Under the Stars series.
In addition, Sea Isle would have to go out for public bids as part of the process of hiring a ride contractor, Savastano said.
Trulli thinks smaller-style kiddie rides could be placed on a sliver of land on the easterly portion of Excursion Park, directly next to the Promenade, without causing any conflicts with other Sea Isle summer activities.
Also during the Council meeting, there was a discussion about the possibility of Sea Isle expanding its summer recreation programs to give children and teens more sports and activities.
Council President Mary Tighe said the city may juggle the schedule and add more time slots to accommodate more children and games in the summer basketball program amid heavy demand this year.
This year, the summer youth basketball program has had 459 children sign up, compared to 334 in 2022. At this point, 18 kids remain on a waiting list for the basketball teams, said Katherine Custer, director of Community Affairs for Sea Isle.
“We want to have as many kids as possible,” Custer said, expressing hope that the city will be able to get the kids on the waiting list into the basketball program.
Custer noted that Sea Isle’s Recreation Office has received a lot of calls and emails from concerned parents. But Custer and other city officials said the Recreation Office has been working diligently to register all of the kids who want to play basketball.
There are plans to “tweak” the registration process for the basketball program next year to make it even better, Custer said.
“Our hope is to have as many kids as possible,” she said.
Councilman Frank Edwardi suggested that the city should utilize all of its basketball courts in town to accommodate more players. Currently, just the basketball courts on JFK Boulevard are used for the summer program.
“It’s a huge draw, but it’s only one court over and over again,” he said.
Edwardi also said he would like the city to branch out to offer baseball and soccer teams as part of its summer recreation program.
At the same time it wants to expand the recreation program, Sea Isle is also facing the challenge of finding enough summer employees, volunteers and referees to supervise the games, Custer pointed out.
