New playground part of Elberon School project
Residents say school playground demolished without notice
BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

LONG BRANCH -- The demolition of a popular playground at the Elberon School has some residents of the neighborhood upset.

"The park was in good condition," said resident Carol Berley. "Everyone used it and there are no other parks around. It is just dirt there now and we don't know if there will be another park."

"No one told us they would be taking it down," Berley said, adding, "People in the neighborhood are asking 'Where's the park?' and 'What happened to it?'."

According to Long Branch Superintendent of Schools Joseph M. Ferraina, the playground at the Elberon School was demolished about six weeks ago to clear the site for renovations and an addition to the new school.

The playground was located on the school grounds, but was open to the community after school hours, Ferraina said.

Berley said when a new neighbor moved into the area last month she asked a friend to take the children to the park during the move but they were in for a disappointment.

"It wasn't there," Berley said. "This is a park that we all used."

Ferraina said plans for the new school at the site will include a new, state of the art playground.

The kindergarten through second grade Elberon School was closed in June 2005 as part of a multi-school construction project in the Long Branch School District.

The park had remained in-tact and open to the community at the site until last month.

According to Ferraina, the students at the Elberon School have been relocated to the new A. A. Anastasia School and the Gregory School during construction of the new building.

Ferraina said construction is expected to begin on the new school in October 2007 and is expected to be completed within 18 months to two years.

The original 45,000-square-foot school will almost double in size and house pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade students in an approximate 90,000-square-foot building, Ferraina said.

As part of the construction project, a school playground will be built on the site.

"The [original] playground was constructed some 15 or 16 years ago and was all wood and really becoming a danger to people," Ferraina said.

"Instead of spending more money to repair it, we tore it down for a new one. As part of the construction, things had to be removed.

"The new playground will absolutely not be a wooden structure," he added.

"And instead of wooden chips we will have a rubber ground," Ferraina said.

Although the park is open to the community after school hours, Ferraina explained that the playground is not a community park.

"We want the community to use it," he said. "The community has used it in the past.

"But if problems arise, like finding beer cans there, we will enforce rules that there is no trespassing."