Building Excitement
Groundbreaking for Community Center Expected This Spring
An architectural rendering depicts what Sea Isle City’s proposed community recreation center would look like at the front entrance. (Courtesy of Sea Isle City)
Watch the future come to life.
Sea Isle City residents and visitors can witness an emerging landmark, piece by piece, for the next couple of years.
And then they can use it.
The countdown phase for the $21 million Community Center began in late February when City Council awarded the construction contract to Ernest Bock & Sons of Philadelphia.
Shortly thereafter, officials met with the construction company. A spring groundbreaking was planned for the former site of the Sea Isle City Public School at 4501 Park Road.
When they build it, to borrow a “Field of Dreams” phrase, people will come. That might be late in 2025. It could be early in 2026. But they will most definitely come.
Mayor Leonard Desiderio considers the center a hub for community gatherings, programs, activities, and events. It will be a signature structure for Sea Isle City.
Some details may change before the groundbreaking, but the overview is of grand scale.
Plans call for a two-floor facility that will occupy a full city block.
The main features include a gym with a basketball court, and a walking track above the perimeter of the gym. The track will be 10 feet wide, with separate lanes for running and walking. It is viewed as the perfect option for days that are too hot, cold, windy, or rainy to accommodate outdoor exercises.
A fitness room and conference center will appeal to individuals who want to work out and to civic groups that want to meet.
There will be approximately 125 parking spots combined, above and below the facility. Amenities include a ramp, elevators, lockers, a spacious lobby, and lounge. Landscaping accent pieces will complement the neighborhood, and aesthetics like bike racks, trees, slowly rising stairs – along with a colorful exterior – should give the center an identity.
The gym will become an instant magnet. It is planned to feature six basketball backboards and rims, a divider, and both volleyball and pickleball areas. A retractable net can turn the large court into two smaller ones to encourage multiple activities.
Nearly 200 bleacher seats will accompany the layout.
An adjacent fitness room can accommodate activities like yoga, total body fitness and senior fitness.
The center is aimed at year-round use, including weekends and evening hours. Staffing will be based on need. The facility will be open to the public, some on a fee basis, meaning that renters and residents alike can gain access.
Years of citywide discussions, meeting, surveys, and public input now appear set to produce a significant architectural structure.
“We are creating a building that will be here for generations to come,” says Katherine Custer, the director of community services. “We expect many people to use it. It is something the community of Sea Isle City will be very proud of.
“This is a very important project, basically one of the last pieces in the puzzle that makes Sea Isle City so wonderful.”
The last few years have seen quite an evolution of that puzzle. One could mark the start as a 2010 renovation of Veterans Park that launched an upgrade wave.
Among the subsequent highlights:
Phases 1 and 2 of Excursion Park
Remodeling of JFK basketball courts and playgrounds
New marina boat ramp
Street scaping
New Welcome Center and Community Lodge
And then came this pièce de résistance, complete with a unique saga.
How the Center Evolved
The Community Center genesis was part vision, part pragmatism.
In 2012, the Sea Isle City School had been closed because of limited enrollment, with students relocated to Ocean City. Then Superstorm Sandy struck later that year, damaging both City Hall and the police building. Both departments moved their headquarters to the school and plans were made to build a new complex for them.
The new City Hall opened in 2015 and the school then became home to the recreation department. Talk began about using that facility for recreation, on a grand scale.
This is the former school building at the Community Center site.
That launched a multiyear event progression that led the city to this point. Early stages included the formation of a community committee and a feasibility study.
Public meetings, a master community plan, and surveys materialized. Desiderio and Custer made public presentations. The process was gradual. The period between the idea of a community center and its future opening will be nearly 10 years.
“There were probably hundreds of people given a voice in this,” Custer recalls. “We wanted as many people as possible’s input into it. Residents and property owners expressed views as to what they wanted done.”
A public vote in 2019 concerned whether the center would have a pool. It was rejected 489-386 in a turnout that revealed a strong local interest in the subject. The community center movement proceeded without a pool and then took a hiatus during the COVID pandemic.
Late in 2021, council gave its approval to proceed.
Next came the bidding process, which became complete in February. A known company will bring the building to market.
Bock & Sons is family-owned and launched in 1949.
Its major projects include a $250 million, four-story terminal expansion at the Philadelphia International Airport.
It sports some major residential projects like a $100 million, 10-story, 27 luxury-suite condo facility in Philadelphia.
The company also designed the Flyers’ $3.5 million practice facility in Voorhees, complete with locker room, spa, medical facility, and a coaches office.
Bock & Sons also is known locally for projects at the Atlantic City Criminal Court Complex and the Steel Pier Wheel in Atlantic City, for which it supplied 14,000 LED lights and 40 temperature-controlled gondolas.
That company now becomes a presence in Sea Isle City.
For many residents and visitors, the community center has long been a distant dream.
That vision now hits the homestretch.
