OCEAN CITY – The town is taking a poll of what material the majority of the public would prefer Ocean City’s famous Boardwalk be renovated with.
City Engineer Terry McGean presented the Mayor and City Council last December with three different options to renovate the Boardwalk.
The three options are an all wooden board surface, boards with a plain concrete train lane and boards with a stamped concrete train lane to resemble wood.
“Option One” will replace the entire existing wooden surface with new wooden boards. The supporting structure of the Boardwalk might be built with different materials, but the Boardwalk would look essentially the same as it does now. This is the most traditional option, but also the most expensive to build and maintain.
“Option Two” will replace the existing Boardwalk from 4th to 27th streets with a combination of wood boards and concrete. The Boardwalk would be divided into three lanes. The inner lane where the train runs will be a plain concrete surface that would look like the tram lane that currently exists south of 4th Street. This option is the least expensive to build and maintain.
“Option Three” is like option number two but the inner tram lane would be a concrete that is colored and stamped to resemble wooden boards. This option is more expensive than number two but still less expensive than the all wooden option.
As of Thursday at 2 p.m., there were a total of 5,430 votes. Option number three was in the lead with 2,562 votes, or 47 percent. Option number one was in second place with 1,654 votes, and option number two was trailing behind at 1,214 votes.
In December, McGean favored the stamped concrete option from a “strictly engineering stand point.”
At that time, Mayor Rick Meehan and Council President Jim Hall referred to themselves as “traditionalists” and preferred the all wooden option.
Councilman Joe Hall favored the stamped concrete option in aspect to the cost saving and longevity it provides.
“It is less costly than the initial construction of the all wood option, and we believe it would be the least costly in long term as well by providing a concrete surface for the train to ride,” McGean said.
According to McGean the poll is merely being used to gain public input.
The results of the poll will be presented on March 7 during a public hearing concerning the three options and Ocean City’s boardwalk.
Visit the town of Ocean City’s website, or the town’s tourism site, to place a vote.