OCEAN CITY — A north-end public park will retain its long-time outdoor racquetball court as resort officials this week approved the roughly $82,000 expenditure to keep it.
During a meeting last week, Recreation and Parks Committee members got an overview on the progress of the redevelopment of Gorman Park in the north end near 136th Street. The intent of the project is to correct some chronic flooding issues while reconfiguring the existing tennis courts to allow for a growingly popular pickleball court and preserving the three-sided cinderblock racquetball court among other features.
The project is largely being funded by a $115,000 grant from the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR). However, higher than expected bids and rising construction costs caused many elements of the park redevelopment plan to reach or exceed the DNR’s $115,000 grant before the preservation of the racquetball court could be addressed, leaving that element in jeopardy.
During last week’s committee meeting, City Engineer Terry McGean said he had rebid the racquetball project and brought the cost down to $82,000 with a potential to lower the cost more if the court’s block walls were lowered or not extended as far. Recreation and Parks Director Susan Petito said she learned through conversations with DNR officials the grant was not in jeopardy if the racquetball court was not included.
At Tuesday’s Mayor and Council meeting, Councilman Mark Paddack presented the recreation and parks committee minutes and explained some of issues regarding the DNR grant and the racquetball court at Gorman Park.
“The project came in considerably higher than the estimate,” he said. “We’ve learned it won’t necessarily impact this grant, but it could put future grants from the DNR in peril. We’ve also learned from Susan Petito that there is funding available from a different source and the recommendation from the committee was to approve the expenditure.”
For her part, Petito explained while the racquetball court did not fit into the grant funding formula, there was sufficient funding from a different source to cover the cost.
“We have left-over funding from another roofing project and other projects earmarked for recreation,” she said. “There is $127,000 earmarked for recreation projects, so there is more than enough to cover this, but we’re hoping it comes in under $82,000.”
With three councilmembers absent on Tuesday, a question arose about the urgency for the request. Petito explained the sooner the better.
“We do want to get this started because we want to complete it by the start of summer,” she said. “We do have another DNR grant out there and this could impact that.”
With that said, the council voted 4-0 to approve the expenditure.
