This image was submitted by an Ocean Grover. It should say “Ross Pavilion.” Re-post from March, 2019.
Comment below by the Blogfinger Editorial Board:
This image is of interest, dated 1901, because it shows the Ross Pavilion, located at the Ocean Grove North End. That was after the original Tent City and before the North End Hotel 1911 development with a movie house, games of chance, skilball, shops and eateries.
The CMA President recently repeated an old trope which said that the North End Redevelopment Plan, which is a commercial plan, is designed to recall the history of Ocean Grove, but it does no such thing. If a historical representation is what the CMA wants at the North End, then bring back tent city (see Vistas Part II) and award the land to the Lenni Lenapi for a casino.
As for the navigational reference, the South End is meant to refer to Asbury Park’s south end. But Asbury Park’s latest design makes no phony pretense that they are reimagining the history of the City.
On the other hand, there is no design yet available for what they plan to do at their South End. Will they somehow try to join up with the OG North End Redevelopment Plan? Or maybe they will become the eventual developer of the OG North End.
Anything is possible with that dubious Neptune Township Committee.
SARAH BRIGHTMAN (SOPRANO) “Time to Say Goodbye.”
A very serious question should be asked: Were all the players who created the North End scam involved with pay to play?
That is a question I intend to ask when this project goes in front of the NJ Environmental Agency.
The only possible way that the North End project could have been approved was through pay to play since the project was created by violating both State and Federal laws.
Kevin Chambers
Ocean Grove, NJ
The North End, the whole town for that matter, was laid out long before the advent of the automobile, and little has been done since to deal with that “peculiar” issue since that time.
When heavy equipment starts rolling back and forth through town, rumbling along Main or Broadway up Ocean Ave to the least accessible part of town, will the residents just be asked to ‘grin and bear it for years?
When the pile drivers bang away, all day long, will noise ordinances be ignored? Or will they be timed to keep rhythm with the carillons?
Here’s another question I’ve asked numerous times, “Have they never heard of nor’easters?” Will the lessons learned from Irene and Sandy (revised flood plain maps) be ignored as well?
“Idiocracy” has become my new catch word. It seems to fit this whole debacle.
You know that whoever did this study will have provided the conclusions that OGNED wants to hear. Without reading that study, we all know that this extravagant plan will result in a mess in terms of parking, crowding, and traffic, and those who live in the vicinity will pay the price, and a ripple effect will be felt all over town. And a traffic cop will be needed for the two way traffic back and forth in the Casino.
The 90 page Redevelopment Agreement signed by Mayor Rizzo on October 3, 2020 mentions “Exhibit O,” a “Traffic Impact Study” which is a “detailed report that sets forth the evaluation of the traffic and parking impacts to be caused by the full implementation of the Project and is based upon the needs created by the entire Project…” But no details have been released by the Township or by the Planning Board.—PG
For all the issues, and there are far too many, one still stands out and never seems to be adequately addressed: access to and from this remote North End site.
Has a traffic survey even been done?
The new North End Redevelopment Plan seems to be held up by secret negotiations, so we have no idea about whether their plan pays attention to coastal mishaps as Radar points out. We don’t know if a certified DEP engineer has reviewed the plans.
What we do know is that the PTB (powers that be) say that they are on the verge of proceeding with a new NERP. But we have heard that song before.
However, as we have pointed out, if we use Wesley Lake as a barometer of official interest in ecology, we hit a worrisome stone wall.
First things first !
Before any further discussion about developing North End, there ought to be a reality discussion about Ocean Grove’s vulnerabilities to further coastal and internal flooding, more severe and numerous hurricanes, and sea level rise.
Neptune Township needs a Climate Adaptation Plan to identify infrastructure and publicly–owned properties as well as Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association’s land and facilities — which are vulnerable to coastal and internal street flooding.
They need protection.
And let’s just say it: The Neptune committee is corrupt. They cash their checks at the bank. That’s what they do. And the CMA, so official-sounding, is the same. They are the blight. Bring back the Lenape to do their business. Let these leechers come to us, instead of them blithely complaining to one another about the people who complain about their accounts, while doing nothing.