VENTNOR – It’s been discussed for several years, but now the city is finally moving forward to create an eco-park at the Ventnor West site.
The Board of Commissioners Thursday, Nov. 14, awarded a professional services contract and approved an interlocal service agreement to do the preliminary work to establish a park at the 150-acre bayfront site behind the Ventnor Educational Community Complex and the Shalom House. The area was once designated for development as a residential waterfront community.
Colliers Engineering and Design Inc. was awarded a $28,050 contract to perform several tasks that will help to determine the extent of amenities that can be provided at the site. The Stockton University Coastal Research Center will use $132,026 in grant funds to develop specifications for a living shoreline to prevent erosion along the bay.
The projects are being funded through a $200,000 grant from the National Coastal Resilience Fund, a collaboration with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, NOAA, U.S. Department of Defense, Shell USA, and others. Grant consultant Jim Rutala of Rutala Associates of Linwood applied for the funds, which were awarded in December 2023. The award was among 109 grants totaling $144 million awarded for coastal resiliency projects, and one of six grants awarded for New Jersey projects.
Additionally, 40 students from the Atlantic County Institute of Technology will provide their ideas of what can be done with the park, said Mayor Tim Kriebel who is spearheading creation of the park.
Kriebel is serving his ninth year on the commission and proposed the area become a passive eco-park since he was first elected.
“I proposed this early-on, and our Master Plan review process identified an eco-park as the best use of that space. Right now, the public doesn’t have much access to open spaces in the Downbeach area, other than at the beach,” he said. “We can take an untapped resource and create something beautiful.”
Kriebel envisions the eco-park will provide a new, free amenity for the tourism industry and give people another reason to come to Ventnor. Instead of concerts and festivals, it will give visitors and residents alike a quiet place to walk and the opportunity to commune with nature.
Colliers will develop a conceptual plan for the park, do an environmental impact assessment, come up with a trails and pathways plan, and develop educational and interpretive signage. The company provided the city with 11 tasks to be completed that would total $61,750, but the commissioners agreed to implement just five of those tasks as a start.
The larger grant will cover a site assessment and a preliminary design for a living shoreline that will protect the Ventnor West eco-system from continued erosion and environmental degradation. Information gleaned from the planning process will be incorporated into the Master Plan. Rutala has also been contracted to prepare the Master Plan review, which at some point will solicit input from the public during public hearings. Municipalities are required to update their master planning document every 10 years.
The project will also include an educational component to inform visitors of the fragile marine environment and how they can help protect it. Having the park in the backyard of the city’s elementary and middle schools will also provide learning opportunities for the students.
Kriebel said the initial investigations will help to develop a scope of work for improvements that would work best in the park, such a footpath and possibly a bicycle trail.
The city is also working with the Atlantic County Park System to do GIS mapping of the site.
Kriebel, a professional designer by trade, is also excited to hear from ACIT students who are not encumbered with knowledge about the ins and outs of government projects.
“When I was a design student, I learned that your strengths in design can be your ignorance when you are not bridled by constraints. We are hoping to hear some blue sky ideas from the students.”
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