Official: Traders Cove Progressing, Will Include Banquet Facility

Council President Brian DeLuca said work at the former Traders Cove Marina site is moving along, and the bayfront site will eventually include a banquet facility that will generate additional revenue.

Brick Patch that the park could be open to the public by mid-summer 2012. Likewise, DeLuca said last week at a township council meeting that the bayfront park should be ready to open by the "middle of the third quarter" in 2012.

Work at the site which has already been completed includes a boardwalk and parking area, as well as new bulkheading. Crews have also placed clean fill at the site, which was required to level off the lot so other features could be built there, said Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis.

Plans call for a bayfront park to be open, for free, to the public, along with a maritime museum. The site will generate revenue by remaining a working marina, with boat slips and a public boat ramp available at the site.

"There's a chance it [the ramp] might be open for winter flounder season," Acropolis said. That fishing season usually begins in late March or April, and the channel running under the Mantoloking Bridge is recognized as one of the best fishing spots in the state for the early-season flatfish.

Additionally, a fee-based children's splash park will be built at the site.

DeLuca said last week that the finished site will also include a banquet facility on the second floor of a building to be constructed near the marina. The second floor of the building will house the facility, which is planned to fit from 80 to 100 people, DeLuca said. Caterers will be able to bring food to the facility; it will not have a kitchen, he said.

"It's going to be a revenue stream," said DeLuca.

Earlier this month, the township council OK'd an application for a $1.9 million state Green Acres grant that would help fund the final rounds of construction at the site. The grant, which would not require matching funds from local taxpayers, would be one of many Brick has received, DeLuca said.

"Right now, we're looking at nearly $10 million in grants that we've received," he said.