Government

Seaside Heights Bayfront ‘Inclusive’ Playground Plans Changed, Hoping for 2025 Opening

by
Daniel Nee
July 9, 2024

Equipment proposed for a new ‘inclusive playground’ at Sunset Beach in Seaside Heights. (Photo: Seaside Heights Borough)

Seaside Heights will construct a new playground on the bayfront after all, along with new restroom facilities, with officials hopeful the project will be completed over the upcoming fall and winter to be ready to greet local and visiting children as soon as possible.

The ambitious project would bring an “inclusive” playground to Seaside Heights, representing one of the few such playgrounds on the waterfront in New Jersey. The idea behind an inclusive playground is to utilize equipment that is legitimately enjoyable by all children while still being accessible to those youngsters with physical or developmental disabilities.

Seaside Heights had planned to use two state-funded grants to build the playground in the same location where a previous one stood, next to the boat rental and bait shop at Sunset Beach – the borough’s bay beach area along Route 37/35. But the project hit a minor snag when it was determined that the old playground, which was reduced to just a swingset in recent years due to deterioration, had been in place for so long that it likely pre-dated the state permitting process for waterfront development.

“What we found out in the discussion is that the old park was never permitted correctly,” said Borough Administrator Christopher Vaz. “We figured you could put a playground where you already had one – but the story with that is that it had to have been permitted already.”

Beach lockers in Seaside Heights, N.J.’s Sunset Beach. (Photo: Shorebeat)

The Seaside Heights water tower behind the boat ramp and water park at Sunset Beach. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

The current access point for Sunset Beach in Seaside Heights, Feb. 6, 2019. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

While officials still need to cut through some red tape with the Department of Environmental Protection, the location of the playground will not have to be moved far, after all.

“Everything was a go, and fortunately it’s still a go – everything is in agreement now,” said Mayor Anthony Vaz.

“They [the state] said that they would prefer that we move it a bit south of the old playground,” he explained. “There was no problem with that, because we can put the bathrooms where we had located them, and we’ll put the inclusive playground where the huts are currently located. It’s going to be the same project, basically in the same area.”

As soon as the permitting work is complete, officials expect the job of building the facility can be placed out to bid and constructed quickly. The final barrier is the waterfront permitting paperwork, which notoriously takes a lengthy amount of time to complete, but the borough is aiming for an opening in the spring of 2025.

“I’d like to see that project done by next summer,” said Vaz. “If we can get it done by next May, I’ll be tickled pink. We have the money, now we have to do the paperwork, but from what I gather, the companies that will bid on this do it so often that they can usually be in-and-out. These companies come in and move pretty quickly since they build facilities at parks and schools every day.”

Equipment proposed for a new ‘inclusive playground’ at Sunset Beach in Seaside Heights. (Photo: Seaside Heights Borough)

Seaside Heights will use two grants to fund the project – a $750,000 DEP grant will be added to a previous $100,000 grant from the Department of Community Affairs to fund the $897,000 project.

The borough’s bay beach has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years, as the borough renamed the area Sunset Beach for its magnificent sunset views behind the backdrop of nearby sedge islands. Seaside Heights also began hosting more activities along the bay beach, replaced docks and is in the process of replacing the park’s boat ramp. The playground is expected to add to the park’s popularity, especially since it is inviting for more children than a typical playground.

Sunset Beach, Seaside Heights, June 14, 2022. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

“I went down Friday just to observe the crowd, and it was jammed,” said Vaz. “There were adults in the water, kids in the water – people are using it again. When my kids were young, we’d take them there, but later it kind of fell off the map. But now we’ve worked with the Property Owners’ Association and some other folks and it’s become popular again.”