Rehoboth Beach Patrol work coming down to the wire
With a little more than a week to go before Rehoboth Beach lifeguards take their stands for the 2025 season, work is still taking place at the city’s new beach patrol headquarters.
In an effort to give the beach patrol the time to move in and familiarize themselves with their new home, city officials and construction contractors had been pushing for Friday, May 16, date for a ceremonial handing over of the keys to the city. That will not take place.
City Manager Taylour Tedder was at the Baltimore Avenue construction site May 14. He said the city won’t have the keys to the building by the May 16 date, but will by the time a ribbon-cutting ceremony takes place at 10 a.m., Thursday, May 22.
Tedder said officials from the city’s contractor, Delmarva Builders, will be on site Saturday, May 17, for site cleanup, with the expectation that the beach patrol will be able to begin moving its stuff in soon after.
This will be the third year in a row the beach patrol will be operating out of a different home. Two summers ago, they operated out of the old, one-story cinderblock building at the end of Baltimore Avenue. Last summer, they set up a temporary home on a dirt parking lot on the north end of the Boardwalk, next to the Village Improvement Association’s clubhouse.
Lynne Coan, city spokesperson, said several inspections have taken place, and a few more are scheduled over the next few days in order for a temporary certificate of occupancy to be issued. Some of the items that will need to be addressed after Memorial Day include touch-up painting, final furniture installation, fine-tuning the HVAC and replacing the temporary external lighting fixtures on the west side of the building with the specified specialty marine-grade fixtures, which haven’t arrived yet.
“The punch list is being developed and worked on as items come up,” said Coan.
In addition to the new headquarters, the beach patrol is also getting a new Ford Ranger pick-up truck. It’s been sitting in the city hall parking lot for over a week.
Coan said the beach patrol will use the truck to supply equipment, respond to medical and surf-related incidents, and to transport equipment for local and regional competitions. The vehicle will have emergency response equipment such as an AED, backboards, oxygen and other medical supplies, she said.
Last year, the beach was cleared five times because of lightning.
In the event of a beach evacuation for that reason, the truck will allow staff to announce the closing to clear the entire length of the beach more quickly, said Coan.
The city has participated for years in a vehicle leasing program and the new truck is part of that program, said Coan. The city allocated about $14,000 in the current fiscal year for one-time expenses such as graphics, lights and the rack, she said.
Two bell ringings
Rehoboth Beach has scheduled a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new building for 10 a.m., Thursday, May 22. The ceremony is open to the public, and will include a ringing of the opening bell and tours of the new facility.
The beach patrol will officially ring in the summer season with its own bell-ringing ceremony at 9:30 a.m., Saturday, May 24.
The bell ringing during the grand opening ceremony has been included because it’s a tradition and the city wants to connect the two, said Coan.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
