Berkeley Island County Park Closed On Thursday and Friday

BAYVILLE, NJ - If you were hoping to spend some time at the newly reopened Berkeley Island County Park, please read this.

The park, which just reopened last week after almost six years, will be closed on Thursday and Friday until 3:30 p.m. each day for some more final construction work, according to the Ocean County Parks and Recreation website.

"Berkeley Island County Park was scheduled to open to the public at 3:30 p.m. today and the same schedule is in place for tomorrow, Friday, June 1," said county spokesperson Donna E. Flynn. "We have been doing intermittent closures in order to complete construction in some areas of the park. With heavy construction equipment at times still needing to access the site, it’s important for public safety that the park be closed to patrons during those periods. Also, we’ve had to do some reseeding at the park as a result of the heavy rains we’ve been experiencing."

The park will be open during normal hours from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on the weekend, Flynn said.

Ocean County officials held a ribbon cutting ceremony with much fanfare just last week on May 23, and said the park would officially reopen on May 25, after some last minute paving and other work was completed.

Berkeley residents waited almost six long years for the park to reopen. Superstorm Sandy catastrophically damaged Berkeley Island, which had been closed since the monster storm.The park, which juts out into Barnegat Bay and sits about three feet above sea level, was inundated by flood waters.

Photo: Patricia A. Miller