By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
After more than two years of preliminary discussions, Sea Isle City unveiled conceptual plans Tuesday for a multipurpose community center and recreation facility that would feature a glossy glass facade and attractive brick superstructure.
Mayor Leonard Desiderio said during a presentation on the project at a virtual City Council meeting that the community center is expected to open in spring 2023 if “all goes well.”
“This is only conceptual. It is something we will be addressing as we move forward,” Desiderio said while repeatedly stressing that the city plans to work closely with the community to finalize the project.
No price tag was announced Tuesday, but city officials previously estimated the cost at between $10 million and $15 million.
Sea Isle’s five-year capital plan proposes spending $12 million in 2021 to build the facility, although that is an early estimate.
The city is planning to demolish the old public school at 4501 Park Road to make way for the community center. The school, which closed in 2012 due to Sea Isle’s declining student population, occupies the entire block bordered by Park Road, Central Avenue, 45th Street and 46th Street.
“I am very excited about the prospects for this property. I’m very excited about what I see,” Desiderio said.
Henry Hengchua, a Toms River architect designing the project, made a presentation during a City Council meeting conducted by teleconference and Zoom amid the coronavirus pandemic. It was the first public glimpse of the conceptual designs.
The city’s contract with Hengchua also includes a “vision and strategy assessment” to serve as the framework for planning and managing the project.
Throughout his presentation, Hengchua focused on the building’s “multi-function” purpose for recreation, community events and meeting space. He said the layout would allow visitors to “mix and mingle together comfortably.”
The proposed brick design would give the building a “carefully crafted” and “warm” appearance, Hengchua said. He also noted that brick construction suggests a certain permanence that ensures the building will be a community anchor for decades to come.
“You are here to enjoy what the city has done for you,” he said of how the building will serve the community.
Built above flood levels, the community center would occupy the same footprint as the former school. However, the front would face Central Avenue, unlike the old school’s main entrance overlooking Park Road. Hengchua said the building would be easy to enter and exit.
A parking garage would be built underneath the two-story community center. The building would feature an expansive glass facade and plenty of windows to let in natural light, Hengchua pointed out.
A two-story lobby would greet visitors. One of the building’s centerpieces would be a large gymnasium featuring a regulation-size basketball court, pickleball courts, retractable bleachers and partitions to divide the space for other recreation activities.
There would also be multipurpose recreation rooms for such things as yoga, Zumba and Pilates.
Overlooking the gym on a second level would be a “sky walkway” for exercising. The walkway would be illuminated by skylights.
The recreation facility will not include an indoor swimming pool following overwhelming taxpayer opposition to that part of the project. The indoor pool was rejected in both a ballot referendum and an online survey conducted by the city last fall.
Far more than a recreation site, the building would also include a cafeteria, catering kitchen, meeting space and a 140-seat auditorium for plays and other cultural events as part of its role as a community center, Hengchua said.
“His main focus was to make this a community center, not just a gym alone,” Hengchua said of the ideas he got from Desiderio.
Up to this point, city officials have spoken about the project only in general terms. The unveiling of the conceptual plan is seen as a formal step underscoring the city’s commitment to build the center after more than two years of preliminary discussions.
The city will present the conceptual plan to the public at some point to begin collecting feedback, Sea Isle officials have indicated. No dates have been announced yet amid the coronavirus pandemic.
City Business Administrator George Savastano estimated that a pool-less recreation and community center will cost between $10 million and $15 million.
Barring any major delays or problems, construction is expected to get underway in the second half of 2021 and would take about 18 months to complete, putting the grand opening in 2023, Savastano said in an earlier interview.
