Sea Isle City has "shady" plans for popular playground

Sea Isle City’s newly adopted five-year capital plan could finally bring some much-needed shade to the popular children’s playground on John F. Kennedy Boulevard.

City officials have gone back and forth in the last four years while discussing the possibility of adding some type of shading at the playground, including whether it should be temporary or permanent.

Sea Isle residents have occasionally appeared at Council meetings in recent years to urge the city to build some type of playground shade structure. In 2023, Lauren Oliver, a mother of two boys, presented city officials with a petition, then signed by more than 200 people, imploring Sea Isle to add more shade cover at the playground to protect children from the blazing summer sun.

The new $50.1 million, five-year capital plan approved by City Council on Dec. 9 proposes spending $600,000 in 2026 for a “shade structure” at the JFK Boulevard playground.

Exactly what kind of shade structure, canopy or covering has not yet been determined, City Business Administrator George Savastano explained.

“We’re still not sure,” he said in an interview following the Dec. 9 Council meeting.

He noted that the project still must be designed and put out to bid.

Whichever type of design is ultimately selected, the shade covering will need a foundation to anchor it into the ground to protect it from the strong winds at the shore, Savastano said.

The JFK Boulevard playground includes swings, slides and a fun house to entertain the children. There are also some gazebo-style coverings for some of the playground equipment to provide a bit of shade from the sun.

    The playground at JFK Boulevard includes slides, swings and other play equipment.
  

City officials have been discussing the possibility of building a more much elaborate shade structure in recent years to give children greater sun protection.

Four years ago, Sea Isle considered erecting a sprawling “shade sail” at the playground. However, the shade sail idea was later rejected as being too elaborate, so the city began exploring other ways to keep children nice and cool while they are playing outdoors.

Although the new capital plan proposes spending $600,000 in 2026 for the playground shading, it is only an estimate for the cost of the project.

Essentially, the capital plan is a sweeping blueprint for the next five years for citywide improvements. City Council and Mayor Leonard Desiderio collaborate on the projects included in the plan.

Council would need to adopt funding ordinances in the future to finance the individual projects proposed in the plan, including the playground shade structure.

The playground shade structure is not the only major project proposed in the capital plan. Desiderio said that it also includes a new ambulance for Sea Isle’s emergency medical services division, additional handicap-accessible ramps to the Promenade and the continuation of the city’s flood-mitigation program.

It also proposes funding for critical equipment for the fire department, improvements to the city’s water treatment facilities and the rehabilitation of the public boat ramp and dock on 42nd Place, Desiderio said.

By far, the biggest chunk of funding proposed in the capital plan – a total of $32 million spread out over five years – is for road construction, drainage improvements and stormwater pumping stations to protect the low-lying barrier island from chronic flooding.

Pumping stations intercept floodwater and channel it back into the bay much faster than it would normally take to drain off the streets after a coastal storm.

    The city's first stormwater pumping station, largely hidden underground, helps to protect a flood-prone area at the bay end of 38th Street.
  

Sea Isle built its first pumping station in 2019 in the flood-prone area at the bay end of 38th Street and Sounds Avenue. It will next shift its focus on sections of Landis Avenue that are hit by stormwater.

The first new pumping station is planned in the area of 46th Street and Landis Avenue to the bay, next to the city’s new $21 million community recreation center.

In the longer term, as many as eight pumping stations are being considered along the Landis Avenue artery from 30th Street to 57th Street. Sea Isle and Cape May County are discussing the possibility of building new pumping stations in a partnership to share the cost of the projects.