• Parking. Although the attendance for last night’s event was only around 200 people, I thought that the parking situation wasn’t a problem at all. In fact, in the pass card protected lot where I park there were an abundance of open spaces. I would imagine that if the pass card protected lots are opened up for major sporting events, concerts, and the like that there will be very minor parking issues.
• Acoustics. The acoustics in the MAC Center are wonderful. Through the combination of the brand new public announcement system and the design of the building itself, every word was heard clearly and crisply during the entire discussion. I’m sure that basketball games and other sporting events will only benefit from this setup.
• Guest Space/Flow. I’m not sure if “guest space/flow” is the right title for this observation, but I did want to comment on how easily it was to get to the MACE Award presentation once I was at the MAC Center. First, there is a large staircase that leads into the Leon Hess Hall of Champions, which is the area outside of the actual arena itself (I think that’s what they call it). Then, the track area inside of the arena is wide and spacious and allows for large groups of people to move around the lower bowl of the facility with no problem at all. The same goes for the area outside of the large staircase.

It’s clear that I like the MAC Center given the recent posts on my blog and my constant references to the building. Next Friday afternoon I head over to the university for seat selection for my season tickets – which should be pretty exciting.

The city brought in close to $1,200 a day in three months of the new paid parking on the waterfront, City Manager Terence Reidy said in a recent report to the City Council.

Reidy said the system of parking pay stations using numbered parking spots brought in a total of $105,000 from the first two months of enforcement last summer and one month this summer.

For some reason that number strikes me as amazing. It’s the result of both people coming back to Asbury Park in the summertime and the town actually preparing to host these people in the proper way (which does include paying for beachfront parking). Also, this story is complimented by the fact that the downtown merchants have prepaid for consumers to use one of the city’s parking decks – free of charge – for the summer.

Asbury Park is putting together the right mix in their downtown and beachfront area. I hope the momentum continues and the City keeps bringing in more tourists and more dollars!