Berkeley Island County Park Ready To Open On Friday Afternoon

BAYVILLE, NJ - Berkeley Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. got his birthday wish.

The mayor had hoped the long-awaited dedication for Berkeley Island County Park might be held on his May 23 birthday, his 50th. And it was.

"It's the greatest birthday present," Amato said.

Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr. and other county and local officials gathered at the park off Brennan Concourse under sunny skies on Wednesday afternoon for a ribbon cutting and "gate- opening" ceremony to commemorate Berkeley Island's reopening.

"It's been a long time coming," said Bartlett, who has been liaison to the county Park's and Recreation Department since he was first elected as a freeholder back in 1981. "It was the first county park I oversaw. It's been my baby."

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.

The storm hit Amato and Berkeley residents hard.

"It was devastated by the storm," Amato said.

Berkeley Island was already in bad shape before Sandy hit, and would have needed extensive work even if Sandy had never happened, Bartlett said.

The park will officially open at 3 p.m. on Friday, May 25. Contractors have some last minute paving and a few other items to complete, he said.

The parking lots, many of which were washed away by the storm, have been greatly expanded. The parking area has ADA accomodations and improved lighting.

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.

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, Bartlett said.

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, Bartlett said.

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

Photo: Patricia A. Miller