Ocean City chamber moving visitor center to Ninth Street
By MICHAEL MILLER
Staff Writer, 609-463-6712
Published: Friday, October 10, 2008
OCEAN CITY - The Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce is giving up on plans to move its visitor center to the Transportation Center during construction of the Route 52 causeway.The regulatory hurdles are too imposing, officials said.Instead, the chamber will open the Welcome Center nearby in offices next to the Exxon gas station on Ninth Street. Chamber Director Michelle Gillian said they ran into state permitting problems in their bid to build a temporary Welcome Center in a prefabricated building on Ninth Street.The state Department of Transportation plans to build a new two-story Welcome Center off the new causeway when the new twin bridges are finished in 2012. But the chamber and the city alike wanted a new, albeit temporary, location for the Welcome Center.
Heavy equipment obstructs the center and makes it difficult for visitors to reach in the construction zone. That was a big problem last summer because more than 20,000 visitors frequent the center every year to get information about lodging, restaurants and attractions.State floodplain regulations combined with a concern about maintaining the Transportation Center's historical integrity conspired to scuttle the plan, Gillian said."There were so many obstacles," she said.Even a modular building is no longer considered temporary after 90 days of occupancy, Gillian said. The state was insisting a new building comply with all zoning and floodplain rules, she said. So the chamber had to scrap its plans.The chamber is moving its executive offices as well - from a building on the 800 block of Asbury Avenue to the Ninth Street building.But the complications proved fortunate, Gillian said."We couldn't have written a script any better," she said. "The office building has bathrooms and parking. We'll be doing a lot more because we're downtown now."The offices on Ninth Street recently became available for lease when the owners could not find a buyer. Gillian said the owners now intend to hold off on selling the building until the causeway is complete.Meanwhile, the offices the chamber leases on Asbury Avenue are in disrepair. So the move will be good for the chamber staff as well, she said.Council President Scott Ping said the new location is perfect for visitors who are unfamiliar with the resort. The Welcome Center will greet visitors at the island's busiest entrance at the foot of the causeway."It has good visibility and parking. You won't have to search for it," he said.E-mail Michael Miller:MMiller@pressofac.com
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