---

The Asbury Park City Council Wednesday approved boardwalk redeveloper Madison Marquette’s plans for the Fifth Avenue Pavilion, which includes rebuilding the long shuttered band shell.

The Pavilion currently houses McLoone’s Supper Club and Asbury Grille in the historic Howard Johnson’s structure.

The once public Arthur Pryor band shell will be rebuilt to include a raised stage, 200 seats and a new roof.

Councilwoman Yvonne Clayton said the city will negotiate dates for public use of the band shell through a separate agreement.

Clayton sits on both the Technical Review Committee, which first saw the project details, and the Planning Board, which gave initial approvals.

As the city’s redevelopment authority, the City Council must approve all major site plans within a redevelopment zone to ensure that it is consistent with the municipality’s Master Plan.

The matter of city reserved dates arose during Monday night’s presentation at the City Council Workshop meeting.

But Carrie Turner, Madison Marquette’s General Manager of Real Estate Services, said designating public use of the now private space that does not have a designated tenant is not part of the subsequent developer’s agreement. Turner agreed to work in good faith to establish public event dates.

Madison must now return to the Planning Board for final site plan approval.

Once those approvals are met Madison’s timeline for construction will be based on the project’s costs.

If the project falls below $600,000 the boardwalk redeveloper will have 18 months to complete the redevelopment but if the costs jump above that amount, they will have 30 months to complete the project, Clayton said.

The Fifth Avenue Pavilion project includes the addition of a ground floor restaurant, a new façade, and ADA compliant ramps and restrooms. A new 7300 square-foot rooftop eatery which will serve as a year round entertainment venue for weddings and other special events, will feature sliding glass windows to create a seamless connection to the refurbished band shell, its stage, and 200 seats.

—————————————————-

Follow the Asbury Park Sun on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Asbury Park Sun is affiliated with the triCityNews newspaper.

---