Post by wildre on Oct 29, 2005 5:40:26 GMT -5
In Today's AC Press.....Promising News!
Even W'wood renovation is puting do in doo-wop
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Saturday, October 29, 2005
Updated: Saturday, October 29, 2005
WILDWOOD-Just as old doo-wop is showing signs of age, new doo-wop is gaining strength.
It started when businesses such as Commerce Bank and Wawa embraced the doo-wop design ideals of neon, wacky shapes and chrome on their buildings along Rio Grande Avenue.
Now architect Richard Stokes, a Doo Wop Preservation League board member, is hoping recent doo-wop renovations at the Wildwood Ocean Towers building will start another trend.
"This was a building from the 1970s that had very little design touches. The renovation has given it a little something special," Stokes said.
Sandi Waibel, president of the Wildwood Ocean Towers Condominium Association, said the complex, made up of two 10-story buildings containing a total of 176 residential and 55 commercial units, was in need of long overdue maintenance.
The association started with concrete renovations and then Stokes got involved.
"We saw the drawings and that's when people got excited," Waibel said.
The building's formerly plain decks have been spiced-up with the addition of multi-colored concrete that form waves on the ground, plastic palm trees and boomerang-shaped planters.
Stokes said the switch to doo-wop was a little difficult at first. "Doo-wop was a dirty word with some residents," he said. "But we gently introduced the doo-wop to them."
The work should be complete by summer, he said.
Waibel said the new look is catching on as the property's business owners also spruce up their stores.
"It's raised the excitement of everybody in the building," Waibel said.
And he is hoping this will be the first of the city's properties, built after the doo-wop era of the 1950s and 1960s, to add design elements from the resort's past.
Stokes has worked on other projects on the island that also pay homage to the island's heritage and he is currently working on rebuilding the old Surfside restaurant in Wildwood along with the addition of a neon garden full of salvaged motel signs.
Stokes said Wildwood has been especially proactive in promoting such efforts.
Most recently the city's Planning Board has asked the preservation league to weigh-in on new designs as they come to the board.
Stokes is one the advisers asked to give a doo-wop expert's opinion on ways to make new development more colorful, more vibrant, more doo-wop.
"We're hoping to get the developers to come in with more compatible, higher quality designs," he said.
Stokes said builders are asked to consult the preservation league's "How to Doo Wop" design book, which spells out how to use the style when choosing everything from materials to signs and facades.
"We're not looking for a complete 1950s look. We're looking for a compatible look within doo-wop," he said.
Dan MacElrevey, also of the preservation league, credited the Planning Board with asking the league for its opinion and advice.
To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:
TGilfillian@pressofac.com
Even W'wood renovation is puting do in doo-wop
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Saturday, October 29, 2005
Updated: Saturday, October 29, 2005
WILDWOOD-Just as old doo-wop is showing signs of age, new doo-wop is gaining strength.
It started when businesses such as Commerce Bank and Wawa embraced the doo-wop design ideals of neon, wacky shapes and chrome on their buildings along Rio Grande Avenue.
Now architect Richard Stokes, a Doo Wop Preservation League board member, is hoping recent doo-wop renovations at the Wildwood Ocean Towers building will start another trend.
"This was a building from the 1970s that had very little design touches. The renovation has given it a little something special," Stokes said.
Sandi Waibel, president of the Wildwood Ocean Towers Condominium Association, said the complex, made up of two 10-story buildings containing a total of 176 residential and 55 commercial units, was in need of long overdue maintenance.
The association started with concrete renovations and then Stokes got involved.
"We saw the drawings and that's when people got excited," Waibel said.
The building's formerly plain decks have been spiced-up with the addition of multi-colored concrete that form waves on the ground, plastic palm trees and boomerang-shaped planters.
Stokes said the switch to doo-wop was a little difficult at first. "Doo-wop was a dirty word with some residents," he said. "But we gently introduced the doo-wop to them."
The work should be complete by summer, he said.
Waibel said the new look is catching on as the property's business owners also spruce up their stores.
"It's raised the excitement of everybody in the building," Waibel said.
And he is hoping this will be the first of the city's properties, built after the doo-wop era of the 1950s and 1960s, to add design elements from the resort's past.
Stokes has worked on other projects on the island that also pay homage to the island's heritage and he is currently working on rebuilding the old Surfside restaurant in Wildwood along with the addition of a neon garden full of salvaged motel signs.
Stokes said Wildwood has been especially proactive in promoting such efforts.
Most recently the city's Planning Board has asked the preservation league to weigh-in on new designs as they come to the board.
Stokes is one the advisers asked to give a doo-wop expert's opinion on ways to make new development more colorful, more vibrant, more doo-wop.
"We're hoping to get the developers to come in with more compatible, higher quality designs," he said.
Stokes said builders are asked to consult the preservation league's "How to Doo Wop" design book, which spells out how to use the style when choosing everything from materials to signs and facades.
"We're not looking for a complete 1950s look. We're looking for a compatible look within doo-wop," he said.
Dan MacElrevey, also of the preservation league, credited the Planning Board with asking the league for its opinion and advice.
To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:
TGilfillian@pressofac.com
