Council mulls options for new borough hall
Building in former Peninsula house, current location considered
BY SUE MORGAN
Staff Writer

The vacated elementary school building on Church Street will probably not be the site of a proposed new borough hall in Sea Bright.

Nor is it likely that the existing municipal building and adjacent gymnasium at 1167 Ocean Ave. will be raised up several feet to allow for underground parking as has been suggested by Mayor Jo-Ann Kalaka-Adams.

Borough Engineer David Hoder advised against doing so when the Borough Council asked for his opinion on the idea during the Feb. 7 council meeting.

“I don’t think [the municipal] building would survive raising,” Hoder said.

Instead, Hoder recommended that the council move toward erecting a new structure to house its municipal offices as well as the courtroom and maybe even the police department as is supported by some officials.

However, the council could not reach a consensus on which of two prospective building sites — the footprint of the existing borough hall or the municipal parking lot further down Ocean Avenue — would be most suitable for the borough’s new base of operations.

Location, parking availability and, of course, cost were all considered after council President William “Jack” Keeler put the options recommended by Ken Bowers, the borough’s contracted professional planner, on the table.

With a $50,000 Smart Growth grant from the state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) in hand, borough officials are seeking to upgrade municipal facilities as part of the larger revitalization plan for the downtown area, beachfront, and an adjacent five-street residential neighborhood.

Dubbed “the smart growth plan” by borough officials, the revitalization effort is an attempt to make the area from the foot of the Rumson-Sea Bright bridge to Osbourne Place more of a destination to motorists and beachgoers.

Bowers is eager to draw up plans for a new or renovated building, said Keeler, who also indicated that the planner might be amenable to devising schemes for both prospective locations.

“There are at least a dozen permutations we could come up with,” Keeler told the council. “We have to give Ken something to work with.”

The idea of renovating the dilapidated school building, which is now privately owned, for borough uses as suggested by Bowers, left Councilwomen Maria Fernandes and Dina Long cold.

Fernandes, in particular, pointed to the building’s age and the possible expense of renovations involved as a deal-breaker.

“Tell Ken the school is definitely out,” Fernandes advised Keeler. “Everyone seems to be leaning toward a new facility.”

The idea of renovating the present day municipal building, which Fernandes described as a collection of smaller buildings that have been connected together to form one structure, failed to gain the council’s favor as well.

“I think that when you renovate it just seems to cost more,” Fernandes said. “Especially this building — it’s been glued together over the years.”

Demolishing the existing building and then constructing a bigger structure could be more cost-effective and conducive to all borough uses, Fernandes said.

Demolition and rebuilding with multiple stories and parking underneath is an option as well, Keeler noted.

Speaking on behalf of Kalaka-Adams, who was not in attendance, Keeler reported that the mayor preferred to construct a new building in the municipal lot near the beachfront.

That lot is often referred to by longtime residents as the “Peninsula House lot” or the “P-house lot” for the well-known restaurant and bar that once stood there.

When asked by Councilman Clark Craig if Bowers had provided an estimate for constructing a building in the municipal lot, Keeler indicated that the planner had not done so.

A new recreation building would also have to be constructed to replace the gym located in the existing municipal building, Craig pointed out.

Though raising a building in the lot could be more costly and detract from some parking for beachgoers, Councilman Thomas Scriven pointed to the advantage of moving borough offices near the borough’s fire and police departments, and first aid squad headquarters.

“It wouldn’t infringe too much on the beach operation because the police, first aid and fire departments are already there,” said Scriven who chairs the council’s beach committee.

Though Long concurred with Fernandes and Scriven that a new building is more practical than renovation, she expressed discomfort with building in the municipal lot.

“I say let’s stay here and build up,” Long said.

Other ideas floated by both officials and residents in community workshops funded by the Smart Growth grant have called for relocating the police department in a new structure with borough offices, improvements to sidewalks and storefronts in the downtown, and moving the recycling center from the beachfront.

Bowers is expected to come before the council at a date to be determined with a rough draft of a plan showing all the ideas that have been generated, Keeler has said.