At Last: Berkeley Island County Park To Reopen In Late Spring

BAYVILLE, NJ - Almost there.

More than five and a half years after Superstorm Sandy destroyed Berkeley Island County Park, it will reopen by the end of spring, Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr. said.

"We fully expect that by the end of the spring we will be open," he said. "I really want to see us open by the end of spring. "It's going to be worth the wait," he said. "Much better than it was before."

The park, which juts out into Barnegat Bay, actually was an island at one time. It sits about three feet above sea level.

Most of the infrastructure at the aging park was catastrophically damaged from the storm.
But now, 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 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.

The county's contractors for the $8 million 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 tedious permitting process over the past five years didn't help either, he said.

But now, the fishing pier has been rebuilt, new bathrooms are almost "99 percent" complete, two gazebos have been installed and eroded areas have been shored up. Berkeley Island will be the first county park to have a "splash park," he said.

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 is looking forward to the formal reopening of the park. But Berkeley Island remains closed to the public for now.

Photo: Courtesy of Michael Mangum, Director, Ocean County Parks and Recreation