Belmar boardwalk pavilions finally getting rebuilt

The Taylor and Rowland pavilions in Belmar are finally getting rebuilt more than three years after tey were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. Watch video

BELMAR -- Three years and a long court battle after Hurricane Sandy, Belmar's oceanfront grew closer to returning to its pre-storm landscape with the groundbreaking for the construction of two of the borough's most familiar beachfront pavilions.

Stripped of all its oceanfront structures by Sandy in 2012, Belmar was the first Shore town to replace its boardwalk but had stalled on getting even one of its five pavilions rebuilt because of opposition to the size and cost of the work.

But on Wednesday, the borough celebrated what Mayor Matthew Doherty said will be an engineering feat designed to withstand future storms while preserving Belmar's character for future generations.

"Today feels like a dream come true - and that wishes do come true - as we start to rebuild something that is going to be significantly stronger as a building and also strengthen our community as well," Doherty said.

In a ceremony similar to the start of construction of the boardwalk nearly three years ago, residents and local officials signed the first piling for the Taylor Pavilion that was then driven into the ground.  But unlike that first ceremony, no state or federally elected officials were in attendance on Wednesday.

Epic Construction of Piscataway - the same company that rebuilt the borough's 1.3-mile boardwalk - won the $5.45 million contract to rebuild the Taylor Pavilion at Fifth Avenue as well as the Rowland Public Safety Pavilion at Tenth Avenue at the same time. The bulk of the exterior work is expected to be completed by the end of this year, Connolly said.

Among those signing the first piling was Taylor's 98-year-old widow, Doris Taylor, who said she had almost given up hope of seeing the pavilion rebuilt.

Every time she checked in with Councilwoman Janis Keown-Blackburn over the past three years, Taylor said, she was told there was no new development.

"I thought it was never going to happen," said Taylor, who attended with two granddaughters, Cheryl Shaak and Margie Patnaude, both of Brielle. "Now I'm thrilled to death."

Belmar's controversial boardwalk pavilion narrowly approved by voters

Her husband, who died in 2001, served as mayor from 1967 to 1979. And his father, Paul Taylor, served as the borough's mayor from 1905 to 1906.

The borough council initially proposed borrowing $7 million to rebuild the two pavilions which were originally planned to be larger. But a group of citizens opposed to the price tag took the matter to court and forced the issue to a referendum scaling back the size of the buildings and slashing the cost of the project.

The borough is now borrowing $4 million for the work and expects that to be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

At 6,812 square feet, the Taylor Pavilion will be used for public events and gatherings and the Rowland Pavilion, to be 2,657 square feet, will house the lifeguard headquarters, a summertime first-aid office and a police substation.

Architect's rendering of the new Taylor Pavilion in Belmar.                  Borough of Belmar 

Some type of oceanfront pavilion has stood at Fifth Avenue since 1881, when it was known as Gordon's Pavilion. The Taylor Pavilion, built in the 1970s and named for former Belmar Mayor John Taylor, replaced one that was destroyed by fire, said borough administrator Colleen Connolly.

Before Sandy, the boardwalk had five pavilions. Connolly said it will be up to future mayors and councils to decide whether they want to add more buildings to the boardwalk.

Pat Hutchinson, a member of Belmar's Arts Council, said she misses the Taylor Pavilion, the building where her organization held its first art show 12 years ago. Now the arts council works out of the recreation building downtown.

"It's just so nice to be down here at the beach," Hutchinson said before the ceremony. "I have missed Taylor Pavilion so bitterly. It was the center for the town in many, many ways. Everybody could use it."