Much of the boardwalk is almost half a century old
With plans well under way to begin reconstruction of Rehoboth Beach's aging boardwalk, the city's boardwalk committee will reconvene Tuesday to discuss further measures to assure the future of the popular tourist destination.
Recent talk has centered on the potential decking materials that will be used to create the new boardwalk. According to Stan Mills, chairman of the committee, much of the boardwalk is almost half a century old.
"(The pilings) date back to 1962 or earlier," Mills has said in a previous interview. "It's held up, but the structure is nearing the end of its life expectancy."
The four-phase replacement project is slated to begin on the stretch of boardwalk between Rehoboth Avenue and Laurel Avenue in November and progress through May 2009. A survey in January revealed large portions of the boardwalk are in need of replacement.
On the agenda for the next scheduled meeting is a discussion of lighting, private connections to the boardwalk and, what Mills said is one of the most important items, the project's budget, which he said is coming up just short.
"We didn't budget enough money," he said. "When we went to budget talks, we did not know what the cost of the boardwalk would be. At this meeting, we're going to find we're falling just short, and want to discuss how we can fund it so that we can start construction."
The boardwalk's decking material could also be decided at the meeting, and Mills said the town is down to two possible items for construction.
"We're down to between southern yellow pine wood with a more rigorous maintenance schedule, versus composite, which is plastic and wood," he said.
City Manager Gregory Ferrese said the project has gone extremely well from the first discussion of boardwalk renovation.
"There's been a lot of time put into this," he said.
source: delmarvanow.com
