By Christine Lapusheski, Press of Atlantic City, Sunday, September 3, 1989

Labor Day may signal the end of the summer season, but for the city’s beach patrol, this weekend also marks a new beginning.

With the snip of a red ribbon, Mayor Ralph Sheets on Saturday dedicated a brand–new, $85,000–plus beach patrol headquarters on Lincoln Avenue. “The Wildwood Beach Patrol deserves this building, and the people (on the beach), for their safety, deserve to have a building such as this,” Sheets said.

Sheets praised the “diligence” and “dedication” of the guards, saying those qualities helped to make Wildwood beach “one of the safest along the coast. ”

“It’s a fine edifice, and I’m glad to see us have it, ” the mayor said.

The two–story structure was begun in December 1988, and almost all construction was completed this past July. The building replaces the old 1920s beach patrol headquarters, which had become weather–beaten and timeworn.

“(The workers) started restoration of that building, but found that many of the support structures were rotting,” said City Administrator and Director of Public Safety Bradley Blubaugh.

The mayor and City Council’s allocation of funds for the new headquarters, Blubaugh said, “indicates the support and the concern that the mayor, City Council and the Public Administration have for the people on the beaches.”

He also noted that because the city’s Department of Public Works did all the designing, construction and general labor on the building, the city saved a “remarkable amount” of money.

© 1989 The Press of Atlantic City. Reproduced with permission.