By DAVID NAHAN
Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY – The latest plan for the Ocean City Public Safety Building involves more parking for the downtown, creating a parking lot and skateboard park behind the Ocean City Primary School, and avoiding the need for a temporary fire department headquarters while the new building is being constructed.
In a meeting with the Ocean City Sentinel last week, city officials said after looking over its proposal, Garrison Architects offered an alternate solution to construction issues with the new Public Safety Building.
The plans for the new joint police, fire and court building between West and Asbury avenues and between Sixth and Fifth Streets had called for the demolition of the existing fire headquarters and a temporary headquarters constructed at a cost of nearly $2 million.
Fire Chief Jim Smith explained the cost for the temporary headquarters was high because unlike the limited facilities the city put up for firefighters while rebuilding the 29th Street fire station a number of years ago, the main headquarters has far more equipment and manpower to move.
The main reason for putting the new building atop the site of the old was because Mayor Jay Gillian was dead set on keeping the skateboard park at its current location after the long fight it took to put it there in the first place.
Smith said when the city got the numbers for relocating the headquarters with bare bones equipment, it came in at almost $2 million. They thought the better idea would be to move the skateboard park. That expense would be for a temporary headquarters that would be removed once the new Public Safety Building was operating.
Instead of spending that much money, Smith said, Garrison offered a different solution: build a new skateboard park behind the primary school on Grimes Field, in place of a junior varsity softball field, and move the existing parking lot between Asbury and West avenues a block west behind the school and next to the park. Another advantage of that plan is to create a safer location for teachers, who now have to cross West Avenue to get to the school and a better overall sports complex at Grimes Field, which includes the varsity fields used for Ocean City High School baseball and softball and an additional practice field. Those other playing fields would remain.
The new Public Safety Building, instead of being constructed atop the footprint of the old building, would be moved to the northern end of the block, where the current skateboard park and parking lot are, allowing the fire headquarters to remain in operation while the new building is being constructed.
After the new Public Safety Building is in operation, Smith explained, the old fire headquarters would be demolished and a larger parking lot would fill the space at the southern end of the block, closer to downtown. Overall the plan would add 35 parking spaces and help support the downtown.
If the grants and permission through Green Acres, which supported the current skateboard park, come through, it would be about $1 million cheaper than putting up a temporary headquarters.
Gillian said he had been adamant about keeping the current skateboard park, but after talking with Smith and Police Chief Jay Prettyman, they convinced him the new plan made more sense.
Gillian said putting the skateboard park and parking lot behind the primary school made sense from a financial and public safety point of view.
“I told them they could not touch the skateboard park because I didn’t want to go to war with everybody, but they talked me into this,” Gillian said. “This is a common-sense thing to do.” Gillian says he gets accused of changing his mind, but said if a better idea comes along, he will consider it. This, he said, is a better idea than the original plan.
Gillian said the city can enhance the skateboard park, add more parking for the downtown and make it safer for teachers who don’t have to cross West Avenue from the parking lot.
Smith said there also would be more parking for events at Grimes Field because they would take place when the parking lot wasn’t in use by teachers.
Chief Financial Officer Frank Donato said Grimes Field is underutilized now and this would allow a bigger footprint for the skateboard park and enhance the entire recreation area.
City Business Administrator George Savastano said the plan would be to relocate and build the new skate park and parking lot before starting construction on the Public Safety Building. That would keep skateboarders from losing their park.
Overall, the impact of moving the park and parking lot, and constructing the Public Safety Building on the northern end of the block, would have a positive impact on the entire area from Asbury Avenue to Bay Avenue because it would relieve some of the parking headaches during tournaments while adding parking closer to the downtown. “Two adjacent communities will benefit from that redevelopment,” Gillian said.
Donato said because of the roughly $9 million pump station project that impacted First to Eighth streets and West Avenue to the bay, the city also can improve the grounds at Grimes Field, which suffered problems before because of saltwater flooding.
Overall, when Garrison came back with the price point for this new iteration of the project suggested by one of its designers, according to Prettyman, it made sense.
The current cost for the Public Safety Building project – including soft costs of demolishing the former fire station and police station – is $42 million.