Long Branch Pier/Ferry Project Still In Planning Stage

Ever since the amusement pier in Long Branch was destroyed in a fire in 1987, residents have been asking when it would come back.

The city has now targeted the reconstruction of the pier with addition of a ferry terminal as its next project and is moving closer to choosing a design for what Long Branch Business Administrator Howard Woolley described as the, "biggest infrastructure project in the history of the city."

Woolley said the city has the funding in place to do the planning and design work for the project, thanks to.

"Pallone was successful in getting all the money that we have," Woolley said. "It was a total of $3.5 million initially and we recently got another $300,000."

Woolley said there are three pier design alternatives and that the city is looking at "two different directions on those alternatives before we take to council for approval."

He said he expect the council to approve a design plan by the end of the year, and that he hopes to have economic and environmental study done by the end of October.

"We're doing the economic and environmental analysis to come up with the best possible final design," he said.

The results of the evironmental study, which looks at factors such as tides and waves, will play a key role in which design the city will ultimately choose, as will the effect the pier will have on the commercial space that will also be built.

The commercial space would include restaurants, event space and other amenities, and would be "self-supporting," according to Woolley.

"(The commercial space) would generate enough revenue to pay for the construction costs," Woolley said. "It’s the platform itself and the ferry landing that will not pay for themselves."

The project is expected to cost over $100 million, with the platform and ferry landing costing between $50 - 60 million and the commercial space costing another $40 - $50 million.

Woolley said the funding for the project is still "unknown" at this time, and that the city has not yet created a concrete plan for how it will finance it.

"We're optimistic something will happen, and we know the economy is cyclical and that it’s in a long downturn now," Woolley said. "But it’s going to come back up and when it does we think there will be an interest."

Regardless of what design the city chooses, the pier will be located in the same spot as the original pier, which is now the heart of Pier Village, and will include a ferry that will provide a non-stop route between Long Branch and Manhattan. Woolley said it would be a 50-minute ferry ride between New Jersey and New York.

Pallone said the project would also provide an economic boost to the area during its construction.

"The project creates 1,200 jobs during the construction phase and once completed, it will create 600 full-time jobs," Pallone said in a release.

Woolley agreed and said that it would also help "increase the attractiveness of the town and call for more residential and commercial space."