Brick Planning Renovation of Mallard Point Park, Storm ‘Resiliency Hub’ at Senior Center in 2025

Brick Township’s new Senior Center, under renovation on Aurora Place, April 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

Brick officials are planning two capital projects – one a long-awaited park renovation and one an innovative idea to provide residents respite after severe storms – at a pair of township facilities. One of the projects took a major step forward Tuesday night.

The township council voted Tuesday to award a $440,213 contract to Earle Asphalt to complete a program that will make improvements to the parking lot of the new Senior Center on Aurora Place, plus install a generator system that will allow the building to be turned into a “resiliency hub” during storms for the benefit of the entire community.

The project is being funded by a federal Community Development Block Grant and, during design, was held up as an example of how cities should use the “resiliency hub” concept to help resident prepare for severe weather. The construction effort will provide for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Senior Center building in order to provide ADA improvements to parking lot and new doors to remove architectural barriers to mobility. It also includes the purchase and installation of a solar generator at the facility in order to obtain the “resiliency hub” designation.

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“Since it will have a generator, we’ll be able to help folks with power losses when we have storms,” Township Planner Tara Paxton said recently, providing a rundown of projects she is leading with grant funding for the year ahead.

The “hub” will provide a central place where residents can go to get warm (or cool down) in the aftermath of a storm that cuts electrical power in town. They would be able to charge phones, grab something to eat, and regroup while waiting for power to be restored. The Senior Center was considered an ideal location since it already serves a vulnerable population and is located in Lake Riviera, a good distance from the neighborhoods most prone to coastal disasters.

New Park in the Cards?

Officials are also planning on renovating Mallard Point Park in 2025, the Parks Division chief told council members during a budget presentation. The township has received more than $700,000 in grant funding to build a living shoreline, a protective jetty that will stabilize the area during storms, and provide new equipment and amenities for residents.

Mallard Point Park, Brick, N.J., Nov. 2021. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

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The project was funded nearly five years ago, but has been bogged down in the state and federal permitting process ever since. Parks Director Rob Burns said Mallard Park was on the agenda for 2025, among other projects in town. The park is considered a “neighborhood park,” and sits on the bank of the Tunes Brook branch of Kettle Creek off Tunes Brook Drive. The slice of land that juts out at the end of that roadway is known as “Mallard Point,” from which the park draws its name.

“This year we will be renovating Mallard Park, the T-Dock fishing pier at Windward Beach, all walking paths at Windward Beach, and replacing the safety surfaces of both playgrounds at Windward Beach,” he said.

Mallard Point Park, Brick, N.J., Oct. 2022. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

The improvement project planned for Mallard Point will be based on a plan officials carried out at Bay Harbor Park – also on a branch of Kettle Creek – in 2015. The plan involved installing new vinyl bulkheading, replenishing the beach and installing 300 cubic yards of stone breakwater that resembles two jetties. The breakwater protects the park in storms and prevents wave action from impacting the sand and eroding the berm.

State Green Acres funding will also be tapped for the Mallard Point Park renovation. Current plans for park amenities include areas for fishing, kayaking and crabbing, as well as a “tot lot” play area for small children. Officials will also review the condition of an aging, small dock at the site to see if it should be removed or replaced.