Ebay photo. Ocean Grove North End, 1940. Submitted by Rich Amole, Blogfinger staff.
From Rich: “Going through Ebay to see if anything new was there to send. Found one photograph that shows the north end of the boards with some folks strolling along and dated 1940. Anyone who has walked or driven up that end knows that strange cut out in Ocean Avenue to turnaround or park can relate to this place.
“This scene also includes possibly part of a porch or entrance way of the North End Hotel with one of the columns next to the boardwalk.”
THE ANDREWS SISTERS (1944) had a hit with this calypso tune:
Conversation from the Township Committee meeting on May 24: (From our reporter on the scene)
Q. A member of the Public asked “Have you heard anything from WAVE?” (WAVE is the secretive group of investors that would develop the North End.)
A. Gene Anthony (Township lawyer) : “No. It’s strange.”
A. Randy Bishop : “Very strange.”
Note: About a year ago, Dr. Michael Brantley (Committeeman) said: “It’s time we take a look at all our redevelopment zones to see what we really want to do”
–The jailbird panhandler has returned to the North End near Main Avenue. Last week BF received two complaints. The mo is the same: tall, well dressed black man shows up out of nowhere and says he just got out of jail and wants to work. Or course, he really wants money. This has been going on for several years with the same guy. He uses a subtle form of intimidation, and Grovers should not have to put up with that. NTPD says do not give him money; instead call them. 732 988 8000.
Song of the week: DJ Sam Feelgood “Up All Night Long.”
Wake up and smell the roses: The beach roses are in full bloom. Go down there and take a whiff. (When I was a kid, a whiff was a strikeout, but now it’s a different aroma altogether.)
The original cost of the North End boardwalk reconstruction was to be $622,739.00 to Bird Construction. On March 14, the Township committee adopted a resolution (change order #1) which authorized an additional $72,942.58. Note that this project was supposed to be completed in March.
The problem is that flood waters from Sandy ran under the White Whale and washed out the sand and damaged the concrete piers which were supposed to support the new North End boardwalk under the asphalt at that northern location.
So now new piles are needed, and a new increase in cost ($55,000 for change order#2) brings the total cost up to $811,534.20. Some of that funding is being provided by the CMA. The latter change will be voted on at the April 11 Committee meeting
We thank Citizen Reporter R. S. for contributing to this report.
My wife and I spent the day walking the boards yesterday. Had a conversation with Frank Glaser and his son Mike in front of the north end building. Frank is a retired accountant who always had a passion for making fudge. As soon as the boardwalk work is done he’ll be opening a fudge shop “OH FUDGE”. All made on site with fresh ingredients.
He’s hiring the Grover guy who we see playing keyboard with the calliope sound for tips in the Casino building to play in front of his store this summer.
Ripping up history is the antithesis of archaeology, but here is a destructive endeavor for a good cause. Here is a happy sight, but perhaps with some nostalgia as well. It is an ambivalent sight of those old boards being ripped out after Sandy did her evil deed in October, 2012. Maybe someone will reclaim those boards and make a trendy addition to a house in the Hamptons. Asphalt will also be chopped up.
How many of you have walked on that North End boardwalk and have happy memories of it? How many of you have sat on that nearby beach writing love letters in the sand while gazing up at the families and children and visitors biking, strolling, socializing or jogging by?
But in the end we will have a new Trex boardwalk there, except for the most northern part where cheap wood will be placed in anticipation of the implementation of the North End Redevelopment Plan; that planned monstrosity which will crowd out some of the happiness over there.
However when the work on the boards is over in two months, things will pretty much be the same.
The New Jersey Site Improvement Advisory Board (SIAB) will meet briefly on Thursday, December 17, 2015 in Room 129 of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. The meeting will begin at 10:AM and should be over by 10:30 AM. The agenda is attached.
Immediately following, the streets and parking committee will discuss the special area application for the Ocean Grove neighborhoodin Neptune Township, Monmouth County. This meeting should end by noon. If more time is needed for testimony, the committee will meet at a later date. Note that there will be an opportunity for public comments.
This is a chance for citizen activists to voice their concerns that an approval of the Neptune application might make it easier for condo conversions without parking to continue in Ocean Grove.
And,incidentally, Blogfinger will attend the meeting, and jack Bredin, our researcher will present a novel idea to the sub-committee. Some of you should come just for the shear spectacle of it all. Maybe the Home Groaners will show up along with other do-nothing representatives of OG’s citizens including the Township Committee.
NEW JERSEY SITE IMPROVEMENT ADVISORY BOARD. Streets and Parking Committee:
Meeting Agenda for Thursday, December 17, 2015
CALL TO ORDER
OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
OLD BUSINESS
Ocean Grove proposed standards to be discussed by streets & parking committee
Take a look at the link below and pay attention to the permitted uses in the historic district, especially the ocean front area. This is what was submitted to the Federal Government in the 1970’s when permission was requested for the historic designation. What would they think now if they saw the NERP plan and the condos in that area?
Below is a portion of the above document (screen shot) which describes how the North End was when Ocean Grove was first developed—-this is the true OG history which should be emulated with the same spirit, including nothing residential east of the boardwalk and nothing west either, although a hotel was later built over there to the west.
Do you believe that “anything goes” when it comes to Ocean Grove zoning issues? Well, most Grovers do not trust the Township to do what’s best for OG. You might consider going to this meeting.
This is where the new boardwalk will be 35 feet wide in front of the White Whale. 8/25/15. Blogfinger.net photos.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
August 25, 2015. GOOD NEWS posted today by J.P. Gradone, COO of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association:
“I am pleased to announce that FEMA and NJDEP have approved our expansion of the North End boardwalk from 20’ wide to 30’ wide, and the expansion of the area in front of the Homestead building from 20’ to 35’.
“As of last night, Neptune Township awarded the bid to Epic Management, Inc., which is the same company that installed the Middle Boardwalk last spring. We plan to begin construction in early Fall with completion before the holidays.”
BLOGFINGER COMMENTARY:
FINE PRINT:
There are three North End boardwalk plans: the one sent to FEMA, the one described in the 2008 NERP, and the one voted on last night, but there are differences between the NERP and last night’s plan in terms of width, elevations and easements.
The Mayor (Mary Beth Jahn) and the Township Engineer (Leanne Hoffman) did not attend last night’s Committee meeting to explain why the approved plan is different from the official Committee plan (i.e. the North End Redevelopment Plan of 2008.) They should be identical.
No one at the meeting last night including Blogfinger has ever seen the actual boardwalk plan which was submitted to FEMA by the CMA. The engineer who designed the FEMA boardwalk plan, Peter Avakian, was not present. He is the same engineer who designed the 2008 NERP, and his company designed the plan which was voted on last night. He should have been at the meeting to answer technical questions. No one at the meeting showed diagrams of the plan to those in attendance or explained the technical details or handed out copies. FEMA requires that any plan which they approve is followed assiduously by the Redeveloper. By the way, there is no official Redeveloper yet and no Redevelopers Agreement yet. Boardwalk work can begin under the supervision of the Committee.
At last night’s meeting, Committeeman Randy Bishop said “The new boardwalk will have a bulkhead that will protect it from future storms.” But he gave no details.
TECHNICAL POINTS:
The old boardwalk which is 30 feet wide north of the Pavilion will be patched, not replaced.
The section of the new “North End Boardwalk” that will be within the “Area in need of Redevelopment” and is now under the authority of the Township will begin at Sea View Avenue and go north to the Asbury Park boundary line which is about 45 feet north of the White Whale.
Originally, the North End boardwalk was 60 feet wide in this section when the commercial area was built in 1910. The NERP calls for a 60 foot boardwalk, but we are going to get 30 feet now on the OG side, except as noted by Mr. Gradone.
Easements will have to be revealed because there will be pipes under the boardwalk for electric, water, gas,etc to reach the White Whale or its replacement, and access easements on top must be revealed for future garbage pickup, deliveries, trucks, etc. Elevations are important to be disclosed because there are new 100 year federal flood recommendations after Sandy. The new boardwalk must align with all adjacent elements.
Note that Wesley Lake goes under that north end boardwalk, so we suggest that the Wesley Lake Commission be part of these discussions.
SPECULATION: (Blogfinger is making some educated guesses:)
No underground garage will be built. Instead they will build an above-ground garage–at least two stories high.
These new boardwalk specs might not work when the final North End plans appear, and the $600,000 FEMA North End boardwalk might have to be torn up.
Perhaps the single family homes will get lost in the condo shuffle.
The CMA will be removed as a redeveloper, leaving WAVE as the only one. WAVE will hire a developer to do the actual construction. When the identities of all WAVE investors who own over 10% are revealed, some CMA trustees will be on the list.
Credit: Jack Bredin of Ocean Grove, researcher.
THE FLAMINGOS: We only have eyes on who?
“I don’t know if we’re in a garden or on a crowded avenue.”
