O'port wants final plans, costs for park building

O’port wants final plans, costs for park building
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer

OCEANPORT — The borough is moving ahead with plans to replace a building at Blackberry Bay Park and is reissuing a request for proposals (RFP) to put a price tag on the project.

The project is being spearheaded by Councilman Richard Gallo Jr., who spoke last week about the future of the park, which is located off Port-Au-Peck Avenue.

“We have soccer fields, baseball fields, tennis courts, a boat ramp and a swim club,” he said. “It [the RFP] would be to hire an engineering firm to give us the estimates to build a building.”

Gallo said the park formerly had a building but it was destroyed by a fire.

“There was a building that was burned down about two years ago,” he said. “We have everything in a storage trailer.”

Gallo gave an overview of plans for the building.

“What we want to do now is build a whole new little complex there with bathrooms and storage,” he said. “There is also a little space that they have a refrigerator and serve soda to the soccer teams.

“We have a snack bar, and we want to add in a little covered patio,” he added. “So the project is to redo this whole little building.”

Gallo explained that the design for the building is complete and the RFP is for pricing construction of the building.

“We have the conceptual drawings, and the RFP is for the engineers to come up with the price this is all going to cost, and final designs and all that,” he said. “We estimate it costing between $250,000 and $275,000.”

Gallo said the borough sent out an RFP last year for the same project, but the responses were difficult to compare.

“We sent one out last year, and it was between two engineering firms, and what happened was they weren’t apples for apples,” he said. “We want to make sure this time that they are the same.”

He said the RFP would be discussed further before the borough sends out the request.

“I’m going to meet with the council Committee on Recreation, and we are going to discuss what we are actually looking for,” he said, “correct it so we get the same RFP back.

“I’ll bring it back to council and we will send it out again,” he added. “I’d like to have it by the next council meeting [Feb. 4].”

There was some discussion at the Jan. 21 workshop meeting to expand on the plans to construct a larger building and possibly a community center and indoor basketball court, but Borough Engineer William White, of Maser Consulting, didn’t think that would be feasible.

“You don’t have the footprint for indoor basketball,” White said. “What’s good about the location is all the utilities are there now. It really would be the centerpiece of that park.”

According to Gallo, the borough is also looking for sources of funding for the building.

“We want to get this ready and in place to get a grant,” he said. “We are trying to get a CDBG [Community Development Block Grant] grant.”

He said the borough is also seeking sources of grants to rebuild the bulkhead and the boat ramp.

Contact Kenny Walter at

kwalter@gmnews.com.