Bipartisan legislation hailed as boon for tourism industry
By Nikita Biryukov
Federal dollars will pay for boardwalk repairs, maintenance, and weatherization as lawmakers seek to bolster the recovering tourism industry. Photo credit: Lori M. Nichols
Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill Tuesday creating a $100 million fund to pay for maintenance and repairs for New Jersey boardwalks.
The broadly bipartisan bill, which passed the Senate unanimously and cleared the Assembly with overwhelming margins, allows the Department of Community Affairs to issue grants to improve or remediate boardwalks all along New Jersey’s coast in an effort to keep the state’s shore communities bustling.
“The Jersey Shore is where memories are made, and we need to make sure our families can keep creating those memories of summers down the shore for generations to come,” Murphy said at a bill signing in Atlantic City.
Applications for the grants opened as Murphy signed the bill Tuesday, and the state will accept grant proposals until Oct. 31.
Grant recipients will be required to provide at least 5% funding for any project that receives an award from the boardwalk preservation fund, though that requirement is waived for the state’s 50 most distressed municipalities, a group that includes Atlantic City, Asbury Park, and Wildwood City.
“A boardwalk that is safe, refurbished, kept in good shape brings business. Business brings jobs. It brings housing opportunities in certain areas, which are vastly needed all along the shoreline,” said Christina Renna, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey.
The fund was filled with federal dollars provided to the state under the American Rescue Plan Act.
Lawmakers see the fund through multiple lenses, charging it will help bolster New Jersey’s tourism industry and better guard New Jersey boardwalks against devastating storms that have grown more common in recent decades.
Our tourism industry took significant hits during the pandemic. Annual visitor spending in the state dropped to $29.4 billion in 2020, a $17 billion decline year-over-year, according to statistics compiled for the Department of State.
But tourism began to recover in the intervening years, and Secretary of State Tahesha Way in April said the state’s tourism industry is expected to bring in roughly $49 billion in visitor spending this year, exceeding pre-pandemic levels for the first time.
The law’s supporters said repairing boardwalks will further bolster tourism, especially in Atlantic County, where the regional economy is heavily dependent on Atlantic City.
“It is critically important this investment goes into our iconic boardwalks,” Assemblyman Lou Greenwald (D-Camden), a sponsor, said from Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall.
He said Atlantic City’s 153-year-old boardwalk, the longest in the world and the oldest in the country, and others like it are symbols of the state’s tourism industry.
Others said the funds will help weatherize boardwalks and adjoining structures, recalling the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy upon Seaside Heights’ boardwalk. The storm collapsed large portions of the boardwalk, leaving a rollercoaster peeking from beneath turgid waves.
A more recent 2020 storm ripped up portions of Wildwood’s boardwalk.
“It took years and tens of millions of dollars to rebuild the boardwalk here after Sandy hit,” Murphy said. “That was more than a decade ago, and it doesn’t take a meteorologist to see these seasonal storms are becoming more frequent and more intense.”
Numerous speakers paid homage to Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who died earlier this month. As commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, Oliver oversaw the state takeover of Atlantic City and was keenly involved in efforts to redevelop the blighted gambling mecca.
“This is really part of her legacy, trying to get reinvestment into the City of Atlantic City. We miss her, but we thank her for everything she did on behalf of the people of this state,” said Sen. Vince Polistina (R-Atlantic), a sponsor of the legislation.
Credit: New Jersey Monitor
