Just spend the $800k and be done with it.That POS that was there is nothing but an eyesore...even before Sandy !!!!!!!!!

Surely we can afford a building rather than that monstrosity!!!

Just raise the taxes on the barrier island again ! Why not....maybe we have 8 kids in the school system. Come on Maria....you know how to screw us over !

How much of the cost is covered by insurance?

The bubble is a necessary facility for both daily use as a gym & rental space during winter track season. The yellow padders of TR led by Carol Bensen don't want it simple because it was Mr Ritaccos idea. Carol did you forget what it was like when your son had to travel hours away for his meets? Right now without the bubble my kids are squeezed into the gym at Int East each day. So sad. Lets use common sense not hatred this time people

with all the $$ we spent on insurance, do you mean to say that we did not have insurance on the "bubble:?

JD do you work at East? Without the bubble the gym classes are so crowded that most kids can't participate daily I suggest you get your facts straight before you make statements.

In my opinion, I think that the BOE has their priorities a little mixed up...more important things to get done than having a gym for the "children" right now. Kids are resilient, they can deal with a smaller gym for the time being.

This is a no brainer.... use $2 million dollars in bribes that Ritacco scamed from the school district and rebuild the eye sore bubble that makes no sense. By the way where is the money and what are the plans for putting it back into the system? Mayor Kelaher and Toms River Councilwoman Maria Maruca, Councilmen George Wittman, Jeff Carr and Al Manforti have the resposibility to post it on the Township website and let the residents know how and what the plans are for ithe money before it gets misused or confiscated. We the people have the right to know!

dump it

JD here u go again spinning ur nonsense & getting off topic. FACT is the gym classes r overcrowded.

When I was in school we went outside for gym every day, hot or cold, as long as it wasn't really windy, or raining. Only on bad weather days did we stay in the gym and play basketball, or some other game involving running and a ball. Don't kids go outside anymore?
As for the bubble- it was ugly, it wasn't practical and look- now it's been beaten down by weather. Build some other sort of building, with minimal air conditioning, minimal heating, and bleachers for spectators. Pretty much a 'stadium' or sports field with a roof and some walls.

Really people - we need to let the whole Ritacco/bubble eyesore go. I live near the bubble, my kids attend IE and Hooper. They've done a nice job with it. It's set back, they've planted trees - it's far from an eyesore. I can think of many other areas in town that could be deemed an eyesore. As far as kids being resilient - let's stop asking them to take the brunt of the situation - the gym classes are overcrowded, we have hundreds of kids that utilize the bubble for track, it is a necessity. Whatever the most responsible thing to do is - replace / repair, let's do it and move on. Pick something else to focus on. The Restore on Fischer Blvd can still use volunteers. There are still many families displaced (which is all the more reason to have school as normal as possible) - help a family and stop the whining.

First of all I don't why we have a building like that.....just shows you, who was in charge of our school monies......Ok, enough said, let me throw this out for discussion. Why not get a prefab steel structure. I've seen many larger than the dome and for way less, get some company in for info and insight......Also here is another thought, the township is looking for space for a storage facility for their records, make the building large enough for both and we don't have to have the township buy land for their up and coming building. We will save on spending township (our) monies for both buildings. One thing someone has to explain to me why the township sells land and then looks to buy more for there projects? Don't forget that insurance monies received would also pay for this, maybe we could use someone in the townships staffing to make up plans for this, we must be paying some one on the inside for planning things like this?

The bubble needed to be deflayed prior to the stotrm. The bubbles at Middletown South anfd St John Vianney were deflated snd were fine after the storm. It wsd a case of negligence.

Intereastparent: Perhaps if you went to the BOE meetings you would know that there was NO WAY that anyone would have known that the "bubble" was going in the very beginning. When this (the eventual bubble) was placed on the ballot for a vote it was worded as "Capital Improvement", no where was it listed as an "Air Supported Structure". So, how did Mrs. Benson know that this is what Mr. RItaccco was going to with the money? Is she some kind of clairvoyant? Secondly, at the last BOE meeting, ALL Mrs. Benson asked was if the bubble was to be either repaired or replaced which way would be the most cost effective and why this discussion could not be done out in a public form giving the public a chance to ask questions. She is also concerned about the fact that there are kids going out to this bubble for gym out in the cold with little to no heat in the structure in the winter and no air conditioning in the summer. So, what is wrong with that? Did she show some kind of concern for a child that she should not have?

It was a hidious eyesore. I'm glad it's gone. Now let's collect the insurance money and build a nice building something we can be proud of. This was just another Ritacco deflated bubble.

Carol & her crew r just anti anything ritacco did bottom line is the bubble makes money. Saves money & is a much needed space. If it was Torrones idea Bensen would be praising it from the roof tops

I WAS at the last mtg. Carol stated she wanted to have a mtg so she could ask questions about the bubble. It has been a thorn in her side from the start mainly cause it wasn't built when her son ran track Get a life & get over the stupid issues

If I recall, there was a vote on the bubble and it was decided by voters NO. Then the next day it goes up.

Somehow the rest of us made it through life with just a gym and field outside. If the income exceeds expenses then rebuild it. If it costs money, remove it.

I GOT IT.....put it in the ocean next to the rollercoaster !!!

Sorry, the deductable is not even worth the repair. It is low on the priority list unfortunately. Remove it. Was ugly anyway.

Isnt this structure the same as the structure that came down at the Dallas Cowboys stadium? Which Also came down in a wind storm of 55-65 mph? Seems if it could come down once, it could do it again. Imagine if there where children in it?!!
Not to mention it was an eye sore and the kids hated it, at least all mine did.
I say build a brick building. The district would earn the same in revenue, if not more. The bubble was hardly a professional looking building. If you want to make up the difference, you could always rent out for other community functions.
Just my opinion.

@east gym teacher....the kids HATE gym class in the bubble. Ask them!
Besides..... There should be a corridor at the very least, so they dont have to walk outside before and after class....and that stupid heavy revolving door in which my kid got his leg caught, and cost a trip to the ER. REMOVE IT!

The pressurized air inside the bubble caused some children to develop breathing problems. I know -- my child was one of them, and had to take gym in the regular gym under a doctor's note. In any event, when my kids were at IE they were outside on the fields for gym most of the year anyway. And, there's no reason why they can't use the winter marking period for a health class for some of the students as they do in high school if they don't already.

That monstrosity would never have been constructed if it had been put on a ballot as a referendum; instead, this was just another one of Ritacco's scams in order to line his pockets. As it was, he tried to get the Schools Construction Corp. to pay for it until they informed him that there was no money for such a project and the taxpayers had to foot the entire bill. The whole thing should be shut down and tossed in the garbage heap.

Just get rid of it I do not want of my tax dollars spent to fix it, replace it or put up a new building. I agree with a lot of people this is not b=needed for gym. Go outside and in the colder weather take health if you think t is so over crowded. As far as track it is not making money and if Toms River students are on track let them travel just like other sports teams travel.

Does everyone know that the bubble is a cash business, no registers? Told there was no place to put any more electric. So where does this cash go? How is inventory kept? As far as cleanliness, the fans in there were disgustingly dirty.

@Seriously, Are you serious ? The pressurized air inside the bubble ? Comon' you can't be that naive. The Air is trapped between an inner an outer membrane and can no way cause breathing problems for anyone. That's like saying your kid can't have balloons at his birthday party because the pressurized air in the balloons cause breathing problems. That's why they call it a bubble.

JD ur an expert in ur own own delusional mind. this blog was the best thing that ever happened to u prior to this no one would listen. Remember just cause its on a news forum doesn't make it a fact....well there is 1 exception. It is a FACT that ur an unemployable blowhard

Just as the mayor of SSH wants to keep the collapsed wreckage of the roller coaster right where it is as a memorial of Superstorm Sandy, perhaps we should do the same with the Bubble to commemorate the disaster known as Michael Ritacco?!?!

Roll it up and throw it out! Looks like an ugly airplane hanger next to a school. And thats exactly what it is. Let these fat, lazy, rude,spoiled rotten,video game playing,texting,disrespectful, antisocial,asthmatic,peanut allergic little wussies go outside for gym and get some fresh air and exercise like it has been done for thousands of years. Bring back dodge ball, and stop giving these kids trophies for doing absolutely nothing but showing up for the game. so ridiculous!!! Does anyone remember being a kid or not. It definitely was not like this thats for sure. Man up you little $h!t$. no balloons, johnny is alergic to latex. What the hell is a peanut table? does everyone have their purell bottle? no wonder why all these kids get sick so often. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

whats wrong with the board voting that in again i dont get it