BEACH HAVEN WEST – Local families and summer visitors alike can now enjoy the newly upgraded bay beach located at the end of Jennifer Lane in the Beach Haven West section of Stafford Township.
Located on the mainland side of the Barnegat Bay, the Jennifer Lane Bay Beach is now officially reopened for business.
Kids can have a “whale” of a good time at the new park…literally. Part of the renovations to the Jennifer Lane Bay Beach included the installation of Jenny, a giant, fiberglass whale that kids can climb and play on.
“We starting looking into doing something at the park in March I would say. We looked at a swing set, but with the safety set back, the swings wouldn’t work,” Stafford Township Councilman Michael Pfancook told Jersey Shore Online.
Instead, the township opted for a more fitting addition, keeping with the maritime theme instilled by the wooden boat structure that used to stand on the beach prior to Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
According to Pfancook, both state and federal environmental protection departments set forth certain requirements and restrictions after Sandy, forcing the township to look into other options for playground equipment.
“The whale fit the area we had available to work with, with the weather and tide over the years, the beach erosion has taken so much of the beach away,” he added.
The renovations were performed by the township buildings and grounds crew, who cleared and leveled the bay beach area. They built a retaining wall around the perimeter of the beach, fencing it in, and then worked on installing Jenny the Whale.
“After the whale was installed, the area was filled with about 30 tons of fresh beach sand,” Pfancook said.
Jennifer Lane is located off of Morris Boulevard, one of the main access roads into Beach Haven West. If you take Jennifer eastward, you will find yourself at the edge of Beach Haven West with a great view of the Route 72 Manahawkin Bay Bridge which connects the mainland to Long Beach Island. There is a small area for parking adjacent to the new fencing, a picnic table, and Jenny the Whale. Jenny is fenced off from the remainder of the beach on three sides, designating it as a play area for kids.
While the beach is open to residents and visitors, there is still a bit of work left to be done on the parking area i.e. grading and the addition of new r-blend and rocks.
Overall, the renovations ran the township approximately $25,000, said Pfancook, some of which was funded through Stafford’s park equipment grant.
“There are a lot of families with younger children that visit that park, it’s nice to have something for the children to play on,” he added.
If you want to meet Jenny for yourself, or spend a day in the sun, the Jennifer Lane Bay Beach is located at the intersection of Jennifer Lane and Susan Lane.
