City looks to add boardwalk amenities

A year after Long Beach’s iconic boardwalk reopened, city officials say they are looking to improve the 2.2-mile structure, mainly by adding amenities and activities to make it a “family-friendly destination.”

The city will again join with Sustainable Long Island, as part of its Long Beach Listens campaign, to hold another round of public-input meetings with residents at different locations this month, as it looks to move forward with what it calls “Phase 2” of its boardwalk development process.

“Our historic boardwalk is really a symbol of some of the things that make our City of Long Beach great,” City Council President Scott Mandel said in a statement. “It serves as a source of recreation and enjoyment, special events and lifelong memories for hundreds of thousands of people each year. Because of that, the City Council believes it is so important that we continue the rebuilding process in the same manner by which we started, by seeking input from our community, so our boardwalk truly reflects the needs, spirit and vision of our residents as a collaborative project.”

Last year, the city and Sustainable Long Island — a nonprofit organization that offered its services free of charge — held four boardwalk focus group meetings, at which the organization gathered community input on how to rebuild the boardwalk, which was destroyed during Hurricane Sandy.

Based on that input, the boardwalk was rebuilt using a strong, sustainable tropical hardwood, as well as concrete in the highest-trafficked areas. As 88 percent of survey respondents requested, the design is far stronger and more durable than the materials previously used, the city said.