By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
City Council awarded a $685,000 contract Tuesday for an architect to develop the final design and construction documents for Sea Isle City’s proposed $20 million community recreation center.
The professional services contract with Toms River architect Henry Hengchua is a key step before the city can fund the project, hire a construction contractor and break ground at the site of the former Sea Isle public school on Park Road.
City Business Administrator George Savastano said construction is expected to begin by next summer and take about 15 to 18 months to complete, which means the community center would be ready for the public by late 2023 barring any significant delays.
Plans call for demolishing the city’s former public school at 4501 Park Road to make room for construction of the community center. The new building would occupy the block bordered by Park Road, Central Avenue, 45th Street and 46th Street.
The building’s proposed design reflects its dual role as a community center and recreation facility. There would be a large gymnasium, indoor walkway and workout space for recreation. The building would also include space that local community groups could use for meetings, events and other activities.
Parking would be built both underneath the community center and next to it at ground level. The building itself would be constructed above flood levels to protect it from coastal storms.
Hengchua has already developed preliminary designs that give the public a good indication of what the building will look like on the outside, including the front entrance facing Central Avenue. The city unveiled preliminary architectural renderings earlier in the year that show a two-story building dominated by a glossy facade and accented by plenty of landscaping.
“We want it to blend into the neighborhood. We don’t want it to look institutional,” Savastano said of the building’s design.
Savastano noted that the designs are expected to be tweaked by Hengchua to satisfy some of the concerns raised by City Council. They include possibly adding windows or another type of design element to make the side of the building facing Park Road more attractive to the neighbors.
As of now, the preliminary designs show a blank wall overlooking Park Road, Councilman William Kehner said. Kehner noted that the city’s architectural standards prohibit newly constructed homes or buildings from having large, blank walls.
He wants to see the Park Road side of the community center spruced up with windows or other embellishments to create some “pizzazz.”
As recently as October, Council members Jack Gibson and Mary Tighe had expressed concerns over whether a $20 million community center was too expensive for a town that has about 2,000 full-time residents.
Gibson and Tighe voted against funding the project in October, but changed their minds this month after Mayor Leonard Desiderio organized a town hall meeting on Dec. 4 to give the public a detailed presentation on the building’s cost, tax implications and amenities.
“Yes, we’re all pretty much in agreement now,” Kehner said in an interview Tuesday about the five-member Council.
Council gave its formal endorsement for the project during a vote at its Dec. 14 meeting, culminating discussions and debate that have dragged on for more than two years.
“After several years of study, analysis, conceptual planning, design development, and public input, it’s time to build this project,” Desiderio said in a statement to Council on Dec. 14.
Desiderio has repeatedly characterized the project as a much-needed amenity that has broad community support and will serve as one of the city’s centerpieces for decades to come.
City officials say the community center would have only a “minimal impact” on local taxes. Leon Costello, the city auditor, has estimated the project would cause local taxes to increase about $90 annually on a home assessed at $1 million.
Meanwhile, the architectural contract awarded by Council will allow Hengchua to drill down on the myriad details of the project to “put it all together,” Savastano explained.
“Some people look at things and don’t realize the amount of work that is required for something like this,” he said of the project.
In the next major step for the project, Council is expected to consider a bond ordinance in coming weeks to fund the community center, Savastano said. Once the bonds are approved, the city would next seek competitive bids from construction contractors to build the project.
