Normandy Beach Bayside Park Proposed for Additions Under $100M State Investment Plan

Bayside Park, a day after it reopened, Oct. 7, 2020. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

Brick Township’s Bayside Park, in the Normandy Beach section of the barrier island, was the sole Ocean County facility included in Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposal announced earlier this week to spend $100 million on urban and local parks through the state’s Green Acres program.

Bayside Park, which was effectively destroyed during Superstorm Sandy, was rebuilt under Mayor John Ducey’s initiative to renovate and rebuild all of Brick Township’s parks. The project was completed last fall and has become a hit with residents and seasonal visitors with its long, wrap-around dock for crabbing and fishing, plus benches, gazebos and a playground.

Bayside Park, a day after it reopened, Oct. 7, 2020. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

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Bayside Park, a day after it reopened, Oct. 7, 2020. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

The state funding would add a third phase of improvements to the new park. Brick would complete the final touches on the park, with playground equipment and safety surfacing, shade structures, fish bait cleaning stations and safety ladders, walkways, lighting, utilities, irrigation, security improvements, landscaping and parking lot work.

Of the $100 million proposal by Murphy, $42.2 million would go toward local parks, including the Brick project. Other funds would go toward land acquisitions, projects by environmental nonprofits and additions to state parks and facilities.

The funding must be approved by the Garden State Preservation Trust, then the legislature, before it is distributed.

Bayside Park, a day after it reopened, Oct. 7, 2020. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

For this round of Green Acres funding, applicants were encouraged to “develop projects that anticipate and address climate change impacts, advance long-term resilience goals, provide equitable and meaningful public access, and maximize social, environmental and health benefits to the public, particularly within overburdened communities.”