SEA BRIGHT – The borough is looking to fix up a water front park and improve river access opportunities.
At a special meeting July 17, officials announced they are seeking an Open Space Grant from Monmouth County for the restoration of Swing Bridge Park, as well as a state Community Development Block Grant for the construction of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant public access platforms along the bulkheads constructed at the ends of Osborne Place and Center and Beach streets.
“If we’re able to acquire these grants and complete these projects I know it will mean a lot to our community because these are things our residents have wanted for some time now,” Mayor Dina Long said in phone interview Tuesday.
“The community understands why we made the decision (to raise the bulkheads), but they’ve also been asking for a way to see the river,” said Marc Leckstein, Borough Council president, in a Tuesday morning phone interview. “The river view is a reason why people love living here. The view is something they’d grown accustomed to.”
“It’s something we want to do for all of our residents,” Leckstein said. “If we get the grant, it requires that the bulkhead platforms be ADA compliant, which is great, because we do have some residents and visitors who fall under that category and should have access to the river like anyone else.”
The Open Space Grant being sought for the rehabilitation of Swing Bridge Park is a “match grant.” Sea Bright is seeking $10,000 from the county and will then match that amount to cover the remaining balance of the approximately $20,000 project, funds Leckstein said are already available in insurance proceeds.
The park was initially built with funding from a county grant and, in 2000 – one year after it was dedicated to former mayor Charles Rooney Jr. – it was honored by the county with the Ross W. Maghan Award for Exemplary Park Maintenance.
“Personally, as the son of the former mayor, it’s always been an honor for our family to have a park in Sea Bright named after my dad,” Rooney said in a phone interview Tuesday. “My family has always maintained the park to certain standards because we have a lot of pride in it. So, hopefully, if we get this grant and we can get it going again, the park will once again be a point of pride for our family and our community.”
Swing Bridge Park was wiped out by Super Storm Sandy and, though it is still used as a casting point for many local fishermen, Leckstein views its rehabilitation and the installation of amenities as symbolic of the municipality’s resurgence since the devastation it faced in 2012.
“We have high hopes for the completion of Rooney Park,” Leckstein said. “We can’t leave it in the shape that it’s in. It really is the last piece of borough property that hasn’t been restored since Sandy. We’re committed to getting this done.”
This article was first published in the July 26-Aug. 2, 2018 print edition of The Two River Times.
