OCEAN CITY — Ocean City Council approved a contract to design the new $6 million terminal building for the municipal airport.
At the June 26 meeting, council approved the $435,000 professional services contract with William McLees Architecture to design the building. The fees include the schematic design, design development, construction documents, bid assistance and reimbursable expenditures.
According to the contract, the three-story building will be in the footprint of the existing terminal. It will have 14,000 square feet of enclosed space and 3,800 square feet of exterior porch and observation deck space. It also includes space for a third-floor restaurant designed as “a vanilla box” to be filled out by a contracted restaurant operator selected by the city.
Mayor Jay Gillian, in comments read by mayoral aide Michael Allegretto, cited Leon Grisbaum’s $3 million donation to the project and said he was excited to see it move forward.
Second Ward Councilman Keith Hartzell asked Business Administrator George Savastano if the project would be limited to $6 million.
Savastano said the city had been working on designs for a number of years and went through various iterations, at one point with a building that would cost $8 million or more.
“We’ve scaled it back to a $6 million project. That is the estimate we got for the building … between $5.5 million and $6 million,” he said.
With the $3 million donation from Grisbaum and the city matching that cost, he added, “we’ll have $6 million for construction. That is the objective.
“When we went through the design iterations, like with any project, you prepare a building program with what we need and what we desire — and we also discussed it with Mr. Grisbaum because what was important to him was the restaurant — so we came up with a building that’s a $6 million project,” Savastano said.
During public comment, resident Susan Cracovaner criticized the city’s spending and said public officials should decide what is needed rather than what is wanted.
She cited the airport terminal building, noting it included a pilot’s lounge, conference room and an observation deck, asking, “Are these needs or are they wants?”
She noted the city will need to heat, cool and maintain the spaces well into the future, costs that will be borne by taxpayers.
“We take pride in being America’s Greatest Family Resort and we need to tend that carefully,” she said, “but we can’t afford to drive away tourists and residents by continuing to increase taxes to support this spending.”
Resident George Bauer asked why the city was paying the $435,000 design contract, suggesting the money come from the $3 million gift. He also questioned whether all City Council members were getting the information they needed, suggesting some projects and expenditures were getting approved without due diligence and transparency.
He previously advocated limiting the cost to $3 million.
Bauer also questioned if there were any legal documents promising Grisbaum’s gift would be realized.
“You will recall that you voted on a resolution accepting the gift from Mr. Grisbaum,” City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson told council members. “There is a written agreement. It has been partially funded. You’re not flying in the dark. You see what I did there. Just wanted to to remind you.”
The contract was part of Ocean City Council’s consent agenda at the June 26 meeting. That agenda allows council to vote on a host of resolutions, many of them routine, in just one vote.
Council unanimously approved the consent agenda.
During the May 22 council meeting, Vice President Terry Crowley Jr. made a plea for the city to move forward on the new terminal building.
With benefactor Grisbaum present, city and county officials symbolically broke ground Oct. 15, 2024 with their gold-painted shovels to build the new terminal to replace the one that dated back to the 1950s. Grisbaum, owner of Berger Realty, made his original pledge in December 2022.
When offering his gift, he said he wanted there to be a restaurant in the new building because pilots enjoying their hobby like to fly to different airports where they could have a meal.
Although it is no longer operating, there had been a restaurant at the current terminal building for years. (Now there is a food truck in the parking lot.)
Grisbaum’s gift was contingent on the city building a new terminal. The current terminal also houses a pro shop for the neighboring municipal golf course; the new terminal would have that as well.
The $3 million municipal share of the project was allocated in the city’s 2025 capital plan.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff