CAPE MAY — Resident Jules Rauch expressed his concern to City Council over what will happen to the dedicated benches after the promenade improvement project.
The project includes rehabilitation and resurfacing of the concrete walkway with a reflective surface on the beach side and wood railings on the Beach Avenue side, installation of fiber optic service, replacement of trash cans and benches, redecking around Convention Hall and the end of the Promenade from Kiwanis Park to the Cove.
On March 4, City Council passed a resolution to purchase 400 8-foot-long benches at a cost of $1,746 each. City Manager Paul Dietrich said last month that benches would be purchased separately as a state contract would provide a better cost. New bench dedication would be a conversation to have in the future, he added.
“We need to purchase the benches [now] because there is a long lead time,” Mayor Zack Mullock said. “We got a $7 million grant to refurbish the promenade and, frankly, I think it’s going to look lovely and it’s important that it not just look like, but sustainability wise, the concrete is going to be fixed and resurfaced.”
Rauch spoke to the significance of the bench dedications, noting the overwhelming approval at the commencement of the program.
“The first completed bench was installed in 2008, and the benches have become a symbol for all participants to leave a creative historic remembrance,” Rauch said. “Those 360 benches have become a cornerstone, where many residents, vacationers, visitors, families and friends, gathered throughout the year to pay tribute to those they have memorialized [with] a bench.”
Rauch said the program is a continuing success, and $520,000 was donated by community members. People had the opportunity to purchase a bench by donating $1,400 to the city and select an area on the Promenade, as well as the wording for a personal message on a metal plate. Rauch added it had been a moving experience to witness the dedication ceremony of benches.
Rauch asked council if the benches were considered city property or if the people who donated had any right to have the benches returned to them.
“They have to be public property,” solicitor Chris Gillin-Schwartz said. “Think about how they are utilized. Anybody could walk up and sit on the benches; it’s for the benefit of the public.”
Rauch asked if the benches were not available to the donor and if they could receive the bench slat with their memorialized message. Mullock said over a year ago, when the Promenade plan was presented to the public, there was the opportunity for the people who purchased the bench to take it home.
Rauch also inquired about the timeline for removing the old benches. Dietrich said a contract was awarded and a pre-construction meeting was held but the contractor has not submitted a schedule. The city does not anticipate the benches being removed before the summer.
“The benches will not be removed, to our understanding, at least until September or October, so we do have some time,” Mullock said. “It will not be done in the middle of the night or something like that, believe me. We fully understand the importance of the benches.”
Councilwoman Lorraine Baldwin said Rauch’s concern was the council’s concern as well.
Deputy Mayor Maureen McDade said the council recognizes the emotional attachment and the importance of the benches to the community.
“We are just not prepared this evening to go into details,” McDade said. “We are grappling with and trying to come up with a construct that is able to transition this and keeping all of the feedback that we have received, previously in mind.”
By RACHEL SHUBIN/Special to the Star and Wave
