It's Official: Berkeley Island County Park Set To Reopen Friday

BAYVILLE, NJ - The "Closed Due To Hurricane Damage" at Berkeley Island County Park will soon be a thing of the past.

It's been almost six long years since Superstorm Sandy slammed into the popular county park. The monster storm on Oct. 29, 2012 catastrophically damaged Berkeley Island, which has been closed ever since.

The park, which juts out into Barnegat Bay and sits about three feet above sea level, was inundated by flood waters.

But that will all change on Wednesday, when Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr. and other officials will hold a ribbon cutting and "gate opening" ceremony at 2 p.m. at the entrance to the park on Brennan Concourse.

The park will officially open at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, May 25. There's some final paving that has to be done, but by Friday afternoon, Berkeley Island will be open permanently, Bartlett said.

Almost six years and $8 million later, the park has all new infrastructures, a new parking area with ADA accommodations and improved lighting for easy access will improve the function, aesthetics and recreational opportunities available at the 25-acre park.

The fishing pier has been rebuilt, new bathrooms and two gazebos have been installed and eroded areas have been shored up. And Berkeley Island will be the first county park to have a "splash park," Bartlett has said.

Why has it taken so long?

The tedious permitting process over the past five years was one factor. Contractors for the park were also hampered by a long, cold winter and four Nor'easters just in March, said Bartlett, who is liaison to the county's Parks and Recreation department.

The south shore of the park suffered a great loss of shoreline from Sandy, which severely eroded the parking lot and ate away at part of the entrance road.

Dredge spoils from the bay have helped to build up much of the land area at the park and a "living shoreline" built by students from the Stevens Institute of Technology will hopefully prevent erosion.

The county will recoup about $1 million in FEMA funds and possibly from other grants, Bartlett has said.

Photo: Patricia A. Miller