Bridge uplighting, branded beach umbrellas and standardized Boardwalk signage are just some of the ideas being explored within Ocean City’s tourism department.
On Tuesday, Tourism and Business Development Director Tom Perlozzo presented the Ocean City Tourism Commission with a handful of ideas aimed at promoting the town and its offerings. He said the ideas ranged from uplighting on the Route 50 and Route 90 bridges and standardizing the town’s Boardwalk signs to Winterfest improvements and modified events.
“These are all brainstorming ideas,” he said. “They have not been funded, there’s no right or wrong, but we’re just trying to think out of the box.”
Perlozzo told commission members this week one idea being discussed is uplighting on both the north and south bridges. He said a proposal from a lighting company set a cost estimate between $300,000 and $5 million.
“I think it will make a giant impact,” he said.
Another idea, he said, would be to purchase marsh matting, which would be placed in front of the Caroline Street stage. He said the matting would provide an alternative location for events.
“We have talked about how we could get some of these events off the Inlet parking lot and use some space that’s not really used for sunbathing and put it in front of the Caroline Street stage,” he said, “getting 30,000 to 50,000 square feet of marsh matting and having it up from the spring to the fall.”
Perlozzo said the proposed project would also align with planned improvements at the Caroline Street building.
“We approved $650,000 in the CIP this year and it’s really going to go toward the restoration of the building,” he said. “But we do need to look at the stage. We need a larger stage if we want to use it properly. It can be portable, it can fold down. There’s a lot of things we want to look at as we go forward.”
Uplighting the bridges? Ugh…when you drive at night into OC, the first thig you notice is the horribly bright lighting at that one hotel…no “uplights” please
Tear down the bridges. That would be a good start to improving that awful so-called family resort. It is full of crime and smut all along the boardwalk and unfit for decent families. Not to mention it is the most expensive place in the country to take a vacation,.