OCEAN CITY — A significant front entrance and lobby renovation at Northside Park with aesthetic and security upgrades for the decades-old facility got the green light this week and the project will likely begin this fall.
Recreation and Parks Department officials and other city staffers have been working closely with Homeland Security officials to upgrade the entrance to the east Northside Park facility, which is the oldest of the two, to improve security and enhance the resident and visitor experience. The project comes with a price tag of just over $92,000, which will be paid from funding left over from other recent projects at the park complex.
Recreation and Parks Department Director Susan Petito on Monday briefed the Mayor and Council on the highlights of the project. The lobby improvements had been planned for the last year or so, but Petito and department staffers were instructed to work with the city engineer and Homeland Security officials to accomplish the goal of upgrading the building’s security features at the same time. Similar security enhancements were completed at City Hall earlier this year.
“You sent us back to the drawing board because you wanted to make sure we were incorporating all of the Homeland Security opportunities that we could into the project,” said Petito. “We’ve done that. We met with Homeland Security and we met with our engineering department and with their help we have put together a good plan.”
The improvements are two-fold including changes aimed at increased safety and security and other changes the goal of which is to improve efficiency and operations along with aesthetics. From a security standpoint, the improvements in include more exterior and interior cameras, a card-reader system, remote lockout buttons that would close down the facility in an emergency situation and large, heavy planters situated near the entrances to potentially block a vehicle from crashing into the facility. Similar planters were installed in front of City Hall earlier this year.
From an operational and aesthetic standpoint, the project includes a change to the east entrance to provide handicap access, a second service window at the front office to improve efficiency for handling visitors and upgrades to the floor and ceiling in the lobby.
“The lobby is 33 years old and it needs a little update,” said Petito. “We’re incorporating all of these features into it for additional security and safety and efficiency.”
The final plans were endorsed by the Recreation and Parks Committee last week and came before the Mayor and Council on Monday for final approval. Because of its relatively low price tag, the Mayor and Council did not need to formally approve the plan, but simply allow the department to put the project out to bid, according to Councilman and Recreation and Parks Committee chair Wayne Hartman.
“If it comes in under $100,000, it wouldn’t have to come back to the Mayor and Council,” he said. “She just needs our blessing to put it out to bid.”
Petito explained the Northside Park lobby enhancement and upgrade project did not require any new expenditure from the city’s general fund and would be paid for with the excess funding from other projects recently completed at the park complex that came in under budget.
“The Mayor and Council had approved funding for other projects at Northside Park such as the east gym floor replacement, roof repairs and siding repairs,” she said. “Most of those projects came in under estimate, so there is sufficient funding in that account to do this project.”
