South end transition, looking north. The pier and beach offices are behind us. Paul Goldfinger photos ©. Left click to enlarge
For those of you who are reading Blogfinger from out of town, you may have some difficulty understanding the layout of the beach front. So here is the first of a series describing the orientation of the beachfront component parts.
The photograph above shows, from left to right: Ocean Avenue, the transition from boardwalk to grassy/sandy strip (there is a small boy with a red pail; this occurs at Heck Avenue) the no-man’s land where the boardwalk used to be, and then the beach. Note the sand fencing between the grassy/sandy area and no-man’s land. And again there is fencing between no-mans land and the then the beach.
I saw a couple walking north as far as the end of the boardwalk. There they stopped, and she said, “Let’s continue walking along the sand.”
He said, “You want me to walk in the sand? ”
She said, “God forbid.” Then they turned and headed south.
Here they are, heading south, toward the non-fishing pier. Note the pier and a gaggle of rookie OG lifeguards who are in the midst of extensive training. Also you can see what the completed boardwalk will look like.
Latest news from the non- fishing pier. If you enlarge this photo (click left) you might be able to make out Ralph at the far end.
The non-fishing pier was reopened for 167 feet after engineers found the supports to be safe. New planking was placed along with railings. Walkers can go to the stop point, a horizontal railing (with a sign) visible in the above photo.
But recently, according to Bill Bailey, the COO of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association , engineers have determined that the usable pier can go out another 85 feet. You can see the new planking beyond the current stop point. Soon the stop point will be moved out to bring the walking pier to 252 feet, about half the size of the original pier. It will still not be over the water. People have discovered the newly reopened pier, and quite a few folks are walking out there. —-Paul Goldfinger
There are cops out in Ocean Grove every night during the summer. I see the grey shirts walking around all the time
I’m just pointing it out, in case people weren’t aware of the lighting issue. They might want to put some cops out there at night this summer. I hope the CMA can put together the money to fix it soon.
Fortiesbeachgirl: Don’t blame Neptune or CMA, blame your elected representatives, and FEMA (a politicized organization). They passed laws which, amazingly, make it illegal to help rebuild the boardwalk. The laws also make it illegal for Neptune to help fix the boardwalk and lighting.
Remeber folks, you voted for these people.
I was walking on the boardwalk around 9 last night, and was struck by the poor lighting on both it and the pier. The pier is totally dark, with one light fixture with a dead bulb, and other parts of the boardwalk were dark as well. I’ve lived in OG for 12 years and I think this was the first time I felt nervous walking alone on the boardwalk. 🙁 Light bulbs can’t be that expensive, can they? There is also a light structure that has a bulb that looks like it’s going to topple over onto the beach. It’s frustrating-OG homeowners pay taxes to Neptune, and lease fees to the Camp Meeting Association, and we can’t even have a safe walkway.
As of yet, there is no public funding for any of this. The Camp Meeting is paying for the work done so far.They have reclaimed wood from the old boardwalk whenever possible and they have received help of labor, supplies and money from many generous volunteers and donors. The Ocean Grove Together Campaign is raising money for the various reconstruction projects.
Isn’t the pier being done with private funds and the boardwalk with public funding? We have to take it where we can get it!
I read in Blogfinger that leftover lumber was being used atop the remaing piling structure to provide the public additional walking area at the end of the pier.
The boardwalk is far more important,right now,than the pier. Are funds that could be used for rebuilding the boardwalk being used for the pier?
Increasing the length of thePier is far less important that continuing the Boardwalk.
It’s not good use of any available funds and resources.