A $50,000 grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation [NJDOT] was used to fortify the boardwalk the week before the Bamboozle music festival in May, according to city manager Terence Reidy.
The grant was one of 25 awarded to municipalities for infrastructure repairs and announced by NJDOT on Sept. 12.
The city used the grant the week before the Bamboozle music festival in May, city manager Terence Reidy said today. Bamboozle organizers LiveNation matched the grant with another $50,000, he said.
“The north end of the boardwalk needed strengthening to handle the crowds that were going to be attracted,” Reidy said.
At its peak, the festival drew 40,000 people at a time, many of whom stood “shoulder-to-shoulder” watching the main stage on the boardwalk, Reidy said.
The three-day event’s main stage straddled the northernmost part of the boardwalk, with room for spectators on the boardwalk, the beach and the area just west of the boards.
The week before the festival, LiveNation and the city teamed up to pour a concrete-and-sand mixture under the boards so the boardwalk wouldn’t collapse, Reidy said.
“When it goes in there it hardens like concrete,” Reidy said of the mixture. “But when the day comes that the boardwalk is replaced, you’re not going to find 17 tons of concrete that has to be moved out.”
The material is easy-to-remove and environmentally sound, he said.
It could help the city book future events on the scale of Bamboozle, although that festival has not yet signed up for a second year in Asbury Park, Reidy said.
“For future planning, this will make that part of the beach more attractive,” Reidy said.
The Bamboozle festival started in Asbury Park about a decade ago before moving to the Meadowlands for six years. This May was the first time the festival was held in Asbury Park since 2005.
