New Park At Ocean Isle Beach

Town officials in Ocean Isle Beach wanted new festival grounds for the annual N.C. Oyster Festival in October, but it won’t be ready this year.

Brunswick County will soon break ground on a new 58 acre recreational park on the mainland at the intersection of 904 and Old Georgetown Road. The county has set aside $3 million for the project.

The Town of Ocean Isle Beach donated the park’s 58 acres. The park will offer a variety of amenities, such as an amphitheater, festival grounds, ball parks, lighted tennis courts and biking trails to name a few. And, of course, parking.

If all goes as planned, construction should take 10 to 12 months, and the park will be ready in time for the 2009 Oyster Festival.

A recent $500,000 Federal grant for parks throughout the county, includes a highly anticipated 58 acre recreational park in Ocean Isle Beach on Old Georgetown Road, abutting the Ocean Ridge Plantation community.

Other projects scheduled for this fall include a new park on the island, to be called The Shallotte Blvd. Recreation Area. This is a joint project between Ocean Isle Beach Land Conservancy and the Town of Ocean Isle Beach. The park will be at Shallotte Blvd and the ferry landing at the East end of the island. The recreation area will have a gazebo, picnic tables, a fishing pier, and a walkway and steps to the sand.

Also this fall, the state grant awarded to Ocean Isle will allow for further beautification on the mainland side of the bridge, with new landscaping at the intersection of 179 and 904.

And in the coming years, we will see new zoning offices, a new meeting hall, a new police station, and a new ABC store on the mainland side of the bridge.

By the way 2009 will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Town of Ocean Isle Beach. That ought to be a real celebration.