Christie to Visit Rebuilt Point Beach Boardwalk Friday

Gov. Christie is expected to be at the Boardwalk Bar and Grill on the Point Beach boardwalk at 12:15 p.m. today.

The visit will be one of a number of Jersey Shore stops made this weekend by the governor, First Lady Mary Pat Christie and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno.

The idea is to kick off Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer, by reminding the public that the Jersey Shore is open for business and to come and visit.

Visitors will find they can now stroll on the Point Beach boardwalk from end to end, now that the sections ripped by Superstorm Sandy have been repaired or replaced.

The fencing and railing along the ramp leading from Broadway to the beach needs to be replaced and was being worked on Thursday afternoon. And there is a section of fencing on the west side of the new boardwalk heading towards the Manasquan Inlet that needs to be fixed. (see attached photos).

The miniature golf course south of the main Jenkinson's complex is under construction after being annihilated by Sandy. Anthony and Frank Storino, principals of Jenkinson's Boardwalk, said in a recent interview that the mini golf course will not be bigger than the last one.

"It will be the same footprint, not any bigger, but it will be better," said Frank Storino.

The governor's visit "down the Shore" is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. in Seaside Heights, then move on to Point Beach and then Bradley Beach, with other Shore stops scheduled over the weekend.

Point Beach Mayor Vincent Barrella has been telling residents and the media alike that, with few exceptions, "You can do anything this summer that you did last summer in Point Pleasant Beach."

Other than a few restaurants that did not re-open, the miniature golf course and the former Risden's building on New Jersey Avenue on the southern end of the boardwalk no longer in use, the popular Point Beach visitor draws are up and running.

On the southern end of Point Beach, Aqua Serve workers were busy sweeping and shoveling by hand on the Maryland Avenue beach while a front end loader graded the piles of sand. Sand had to be filled in under a steep drop-off that had somehow been carved out by Sandy under the short wooden boardwalk.

Aqua Serve is contracted by the town to maintain the beach and provide lifeguards. The Maryland Avenue beach is the only stretch of Point Beach that is owned by the town.

Point Beach Public Works Director John Trout stopped by to talk to Aqua Serve staffers and check on progress. He said public works had picked up debris and cleaned up the beach and Aqua Serve was making progress on continuing to get the beach ready.

Portable toilets were on scene waiting to get hooked up. Trout said he had trouble finding eight-foot stockade fence, to replace the fencing wiped out by Sandy, to install around the toilets and shower.

"But I finally found it and ordered it and it should be coming in soon," he said.

While the boardwalk, Manasquan Inlet, fishing, boating and downtown businesses are open for business, there are some Sandy-flooded homes, especially east of the NJ Transit train tracks, that are still not habitable.

Many Sandy-flooded residents in Point Beach, like so many across the region, are still not living in their homes, or living on second floors. Or they have fixed up their houses enough to live in them, but have not yet elevated because they cannot afford it or because they want to see if their flood zone designation changes when the next version of the FEMA flood maps are issued either this summer or early fall.

Here and there, there are a few houses that have elevated but right now they seem to be few and far between. Others have demolished their homes, because they were condemned, damaged too badly to fix or the necessary renovation and elevation were simply cost-prohibitive.

A house on Arnold Avenue, just west of Chicago, now stands elevated, waiting to be finished (see attached photo).

Patch will cover the governor's visit tomorrow, so please check back for that story.