Asbury Park is poised to declare its beachfront redeveloper Madison Marquette and Asbury Partners in default for failure to maintain the landmark Convention Hall and Paramount Theatre properties on the beachfront as well as the Fourth Avenue and Sunset Pavilions on the boardwalk.
In a resolution scheduled to be voted on Wed., Aug. 25 by the City Council, the city said it sought several times to receive progress reports on maintenance of the buildings only to receive “incomplete” and “deficient” reports. The resolution noted the dilapidated condition of both the Fourth Avenue and Sunset Avenue Pavilions.
In April the city requested an assessment report confirming that the Convention Hall complex is safe for human occupancy. A Facade Report, submitted by the developer in May in response “does not address the very issues that were raised,” the city resolution said, “and the city must renew its demand for a structural integrity engineering assessment report.”
The city has not received such a report.
Over the last few years, sections of the Convention Hall ceiling crumbled and fell along the promenade and there have been reports of leaks in the Paramount. For several years the Asbury Park Historical Society sought to have copper medallions, which were removed by the developer, restored to Convention Hall. For the last several years Mayor John Moor asked the developer to install some kind of coverage where the medallions were to protect the building from the salt air.
The resolution said the city has sent three notices seeking a certificate of net worth as outlined in the developer’s agreement of June 2010. The city said the developer has failed to meet its obligation to deliver a certificate of an independent public accountant that a net worth of $30 million has been maintained for the preceding 12 months as required by the agreement.
On several occasions, the developer also said the Splash Park on the boardwalk would open for the 2021 summer season. On June 23 the city was informed it would open by July 1. It did not and it remains closed.
