$ 5 Million Water Park to Open in Keansburg
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IN THIS ISSUE IN THE NEWS M e e t & t h e f u n candidates SERVING ABERDEEN, HAZLET, KEYPORT AND MATAWAN P a g e 2 6 Pages 38-40 APRIL 3, 1996 40 CENTS VOLUME 26, NUMBER 14 W ork to begin at Cam pbell’s Jet. BY CINDY HERRSCHAFT ship Committee had appointed a task force under the direction of Staff W riter th e n -M a yo r Joan S m ith to assess the area and promote changes. P lans are advancing to make One of the main goals was to Campbell’s Junction a make the neighborhood commer safer place for pedestrians, cial area “pedestrian-friendly.” Middletown officials announced Recommendations from archi recently. tectural students at Brookdale In the next few months, the Community College, who were county is expected to make working on an intern project for $267,000 worth of improvements advanced level students that was to the area in more than a dozen funded through local community ways, including sidewalk and curb development money, may be reconstruction, landscaping and incorporated into the project. the installation of traffic signals Among those proposals is one w ith pedestrian controls. to close Drift Road and make the The work should be completed intersection a small park. Police by Labor Day weekend. have already received favorable The county has already award responses from residents along the ed a construction contract for the thoroughfare who would be project and local utility companies affected, said Business are in the process of moving gas Administrator Joseph Leo. lines to accommodate the renova Bob and Susan Bythell greet the Easter Bunny w ith their daughter, Kaylee, 3, during an Easter “It is a very dangerous inter tions, Director of Public Works egg hunt Saturday at Veterans Park in Hazlet. For another photo, see page 3. section right now. Too many Frank Self said. (Photo by Jackie Pollack) About a year ago, the Town Continued on page 40 $ 5 million water park to open in Keansburg sons of W illiam A. Gehlhaus, who Other slides w ill be enclosed by a N ew rides also founded the amusement park in 1906. dark tunnel, and a “Kiddie Lagoon” The Gehlhaus family sold the 25- w ill be filled with novelties, such as a are planned at acre park in 1973 and re-acquired it bucket dumping water on the children * am usem ent park last year at a cost in excess o f $3 m il below . lion. Gehlhaus, a third-generation fam ily Other attractions also are planned, member in the amusement-park busi BY LAUREN JAEGER including “Pharaoh’s Fury,” a ness, said in a recent interview he re Staff W riter $350,000 ride scheduled for delivery searched water parks by taking vaca this month, and a state-of-the-art go- tions with his wife and three kids “up S plaaaash! That’s what Hank cart race track for next year. and down the East Coast.” Stops in Gehlhaus, president of Water park construction started last cluded Wet and W ild Water Park in Keansburg Amusement Park, fall with the clearing of the site. Orlando, Fla., which he said “ was hopes a new $5 m illion water park The water park w ill feature a series great.” w ill create — a big splash that w ill of aqua water slides to cascade down, “Every kid enjoys water,” added nearly double attendance at the park to a roaring river for tubing, and a vivid Gehlhaus. 700,000 visitors this summer. fluorescent-hued kiddie pool park. Realizing that there were no water Ground was broken Saturday for The park’s two “Speed Slides” w ill parks close by, Gehlhaus and his the new Runaway Rapids water park. Am anda Kaiey, 6, dips a piece of m atzoh take thrill-seekers tumbling 54 feet brother made plans to open their own. Located on a 3-acre site across from m aror (bitter herbs), a rem inder of Jewish slav down into a pool via a toboggan-style Fortunately, the site they chose was ery, during a Seder cerem ony Sunday at Tem ple the boardwalk, it is scheduled to open mat. already zoned for water parks, and the Beth Ahm In Aberdeen. The ritual m eal is part of May 25, Memorial Day weekend. Two “Shotgun Slides” w ill propel plans were quickly approved by bor the w eeklong Passover celebration, which Gehlhaus, 39, of Middletown, and splashers down 40 feet, and a “Gravity ough officials. begins tonight. For another photo, see page 20. his brother, W illiam , of Atlantic Groove” w ill take people uphill, (Photo by Jackie Pollack) Highlands, park chairman, are grand downhill, and then uphill again. Continued on page 33 2 INDEPENDENT, APRIL 3,1996 SAVES SAVES G et Your FREE E stim a tes N ow & R e c e i v e 1 9 9 5 P r i c e s O n • V inyl Sid in g MM#' W indow s • Roofing s J g S S t • and All Types O f W S $ S & Concrete W ork TY™K 888-0958 SS For Your Convenience, We Now Accept VISA & MASTERCARD Fully Insured • Fam ily Owned and Operated • References Available Upon R e q u e s t INDEPENDENT, APRIL 3, 1996 3 THIS ISSUE: ATMUA p r o m i s e s s e w e r s ________ BY EILEEN KOUTNIK ________ Staff W riter ABERDEEN — After 20 years of wait ing, residents of the W oodfield section could have sewers by the end o f the year, R. Sami Rizkalla, chairman of the Aberdeen Township Municipal Authority (ATM UA) told residents at Monday’s meeting. Residents who live in the 77 houses in the Woodfield section, bordered by routes 516 and 79, presented a petition with 80 signatures to the commissioners, demanding that their homes be hooked up this year to the township’s main sewer line, which Fam ily talks about being part serves most homes in Aberdeen. of the “Sandwich Ramesh Patel, o f Euclid Avenue, said Generation.” there are pools of raw sewage in residents’ Page 42 yards and the situation is a serious health hazard. “ People can’t even let their children play outside,” Patel said. REGULAR FEATURES He said he was taking samples of the sewage pools and would be sending them to the state and local health departments, the • C a le n d a r P a g e 3 4 state Department of Environmental • Classifieds P a g e 5 4 Protection and Gov. Christine Todd • E ditorials P a g e 3 0 W hitm an. ATMUA Commissioner Edward • L e t t e r s P a g e 31 Fitzgerald urged residents to bring the DESPERATELY SEEKING EGGS — Children show off their Easter eggs • M ilestones P a g e 2 2 health hazard to the attention of state agen at the Hazlet Recreation Department’s annual egg hunt Saturday at cies. Other commissioners said if an imme • Obituaries Page 46 Veterans Park, Union Avenue. (Photo by Jackie Pollack) diate health hazard is declared, it could • Police Beat P a g e 4 5 speed up the project by four months. • Real Estate P a g e 51 Patel and other residents were expected • Sports Page 47 lo present their petition and complaints at Mataw an m an, 32, Tuesday’s council meeting. • Yesteryear P a g e 4 4 ATM UA commissioners adopted a reso lution March 21 that authorizes its consult ing engineer to prepare plans for the sewer killed bicycling extension to the W oodfield section. Phone num bers: ATMUA officials said it w ill be “fast MIDDLETOW N — A promising actor Center, Long Branch, where he was pro tracked” for completion by the end o f 1996. E d i t o r i a l was killed tragically Saturday while riding nounced dead at about 5:30 p.m.. Kenneth Wicklund, of Euclid Avenue, 254-7000 Ext. 226 his bicycle along Sandy Hook beach with Cross, a 1981 graduate o f St. John said, “Residents have been promised sewer FAX 254-0486 his fiancee. Vianney High School, Holmdel, was systems in the past, and we (residents) are Circulation Francis “ C hip” Cross Jr., a 32-year-old remembered fondly by the staff. still in the same spot.” 2 5 4 - 1 7 5 5 aspiring actor who grew up in Matawan and “To this day, in 1996, he still was Rizkalla told residents the sewer ex Display Advertising recently moved to Atlantic Highlands, was friends with the same core group of friends tension could not be completed before now 972-6740 Ext. 220 killed after he was struck by a car about he had in high school,” said Mary Lou because o f a 1987 m oratorium on new con FAX 254-0256 4:15 p.m. on the main road at Sandy Hook, Merritt, the religious studies teacher. nections imposed by the state Department of Classified 1-800-660-4ADS according to Middletown Police Chief “He was a very, very active member of Environmental Protection. Classified FAX 432-0016 W illiam Fowlie. the high school, very well liked, very popu He said the moratorium was lifted in The car was driven by Toni Shollis, a lar, and an outstanding kid.” 1994 after Strathmore and Cliffwood Beach 33-year-old woman from Barnegai Cross’ father, Francis, the owner of the were connected to the Bayshore Regional Township. Bethany Comer office building, on Bethany Sewerage Authority (BRS A), Union Beach, Sholtis has been charged in Ocean Road and Hazlet Avenue in Hazlet, died where the township sends its waste.