Pier In Shape Of Cross Stirs Up Anger In Jersey Shore Town

OCEAN GROVE, NJ — Ocean Grove is about to begin construction on a new pier extending into the Atlantic Ocean, but some town residents are angry, arguing that the pier too closely resembles a cross and that religious symbols should not be in a public space that is open for all to use.

Ocean Grove resident Douglas Grote said he personally donated $50 to a fundraising campaign to help build the new pier. But he now says he never would have donated had he first seen a rendering that the pier would be in the shape of a cross, as seen above.

"It's sectarian," said Grote. "And I'm a Presbyterian. Just this past weekend, I saw brown and black people on the beach in Ocean Grove; I saw people with Muslim scarves, someone in a Jewish scarf, and a transgender person in a halter top and bikini bottoms. If they are out here on the beach and there's a cross right in the middle of their views, I would say that's offensive as all get out. Wouldn't you?"

"And you cannot say this design was unintentional," he continued. "No, this was very intentional."

Ocean Grove is a tiny Jersey Shore town just south of Asbury Park. Ocean Grove was originally started as a Methodist summer camp and to this day, a Methodist ministry called the Camp Meeting Association owns all the land in Ocean Grove, including the beach and the area where the pier will be built.

Michael Badger, president of the Camp Meeting Association, refused to directly answer when asked if the pier was deliberately designed to be shaped like a cross.

Instead, he emphasized the functionality of the new pier, saying that its T-shape will allow more people to face the ocean from the pier. He also said the pier at Coney Island was built in a similar T-shape.

"This rendering has been on our website for the past three years and just now we are hearing complaints. The way it was designed allows for maximum footage along the water so people can have maximum water views," said Badger. "This pier is also more storm-resistant than any pier we've had. It's five feet higher than the previous pier and will have more space to allow high water and waves to come through."

This new pier will replace the well-known Ocean Grove fishing pier that existed at that spot for decades. A big chunk of that pier was inaccessible to the public because it was owned by a private fishing club, which maintained a clubhouse at the end of the pier. The public could not access the rectangular end of the pier, because it was blocked off by a chain-link fence, said Badger.

Superstorm Sandy caused a lot of devastation to the Ocean Grove beachfront, including destroying the fishing pier.

"When it came time to rebuild the pier, we thought, How can we make this more public? More inclusive and now bring people out to the fullest end of the pier, which they were blocked from accessing before," said Badger. "There are now more places where people will be able to view the water. We are also going to install benches and instruments to measure thing like wave height."

"The Camp Meeting Association welcomes everyone," continued Badger. "This is a privately owned, but publicly accessible pier. You can have no religion or be highly religious and still come to enjoy the beach and pier at Ocean Grove."

For the past three years, the Camp Meeting Association held an aggressive fundraising campaign to rebuild not only the pier, but also make other improvements to Ocean Grove, including putting a new roof on the Bishop Janes Tabernacle, a Methodist ministry hall that is used by thousands of people every week of summer for worship services.

The "American Treasure" campaign raised $550,000 and the rest of the $1.3-million price tag to build the new pier comes from private donations over the years to the Camp Meeting Association, said Badger.

That is the campaign Grote said he now regrets donating to.

"I want our beach to serve the whole population," he said. "It's abhorrent to me this pier would offend our Jewish neighbors, our neighbors who believe in abortion, etc."

"How do we have a public walkway that's in the shape of a religious symbol? If any municipality, you can't put up a statue of a religious symbol," said Shane Martins, an attorney who also lives in Ocean Grove. Martins also sits on the Neptune Zoning Board.

Martins said he has asked the ACLU, operating from their Newark office, to look into the pier.

"I grew up Christian; I don't practice anymore but I'm not personally offended by the cross. But the cross is a symbol of Jesus and and the crucifixion," Martins said. "This is Christian nationalism. We are not a Christian nation; we are a nation that has many Christians in it."

Grote added that he doesn't think Ocean Grove beaches should be closed on Sunday mornings; they open at noon and before that, the town's many Methodist residents are at the Tabernacle hall for Sunday worship.

This is not the first time the Christian beliefs of Ocean Grove have stirred up controversy:

In 2007, the Camp Meeting Association refused to give two same-sex Ocean Grove residents permission to get married on its boardwalk pavilion; they wanted to have a civil union ceremony at the time, NJ.com reported. In 2012, a state administrative law judge found that the Camp Meeting Association violated New Jersey's law against discrimination.

Since then, the Camp Meeting Association now does not allow any weddings to be held at its boardwalk pavilion, said Badger.

Badger said as far as he knows, there have been no legal filings or injunctions filed against the new pier. The Camp Meeting Association is scheduled to begin construction of the new pier starting Sept. 12, he said.