Locals Have Mixed Feelings As Seaside Heights Begins Boardwalk Rebuild

Locals were excited to see Mayor Bill Akers drill in the first boards of Seaside Heights's new boardwalk at a ceremony held outside of the Beachcomber this past Sunday.

However, they still have mixed feelings about how ready the Shore town is for its first post-Sandy summer.

“It’s so odd seeing people here on a Sunday in hard hats working, I wasn’t expecting that…you keep hearing, 'Oh it’s going to be open, it’s going to be open,' but I didn’t think it would be,” says P.J. Scelfo of Brick.

“So, seeing this, it gives me hope that people will come down,” she added.

Although hopeful, Scelfo believes Seaside is going to be busy this summer - not with vacationers, but with day-trippers solely interested in checking out Seaside’s destruction and recovery process, if it isn't rebuilt in time.

“I think people will come down for the novelty…see what destruction is still left here and that’s it,” she said.

Scelfo also notes that the contractors who have been working non-stop to get the boardwalk finished in time for the summer season will one day be looked at as “a part of history.” 

Kevin, a photo contributor for the non-profit organization “We Are Team Jersey,” who declined to give his last name, has been traveling around to various shore towns since Hurricane Sandy, capturing these one-day historical moments.

He says that the ceremony is a hopeful sign that the boardwalk will be ready for the summer season.

He thinks not having all of the attractions that once enticed tourists to come to Seaside Heights would have negative effects on the boardwalk's business, though only temporarily.   

“They’ll be back, no doubt about that. They aren’t going to be dissuaded by a hurricane,” he said.

Not all of Seaside Heights’s novelty businesses are still out of commission.

Mario, a game operator for the “only game” currently open on the boardwalk, who also declined to give his last name, agrees the ceremony is a huge step for Seaside and he has no concerns about the boardwalk not being finished by the summer.

“They have to have everything open by Memorial Day because that is the first big money-maker of the year”, he said.

Yet, he said businesses in the Shore town have already been on the decline the past few years because of a bad economy and that may play a huge role in the boardwalk's comeback.

“I think this summer should be all right though, hopefully,” he said.

Mario’s uncle independently owns 10 games on the Seaside Heights boardwalk, all of which got destroyed in the storm - except the one Mario was working at on the south end of the boardwalk.