Doo-wop fans look to zoning to save motels

[wildre]

From Todays' AC Press

Doo-wop fans look to zoning to save motels
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, [phone]
Published: Saturday, November 5, 2005
Updated: Saturday, November 5, 2005

WILDWOOD CREST-Plans to have the borough's collection of 1950s and 1960s-era motels added to the state and national Registers of Historic Places are on hold.

But Dan MacElrevey, head of the Doo Wop Preservation League, said he is optimistic there are other ways to save the motels known for their neon signs, angular roofs and kidney-shaped pools.

MacElrevey said zoning changes within the borough and a proposed 10-point incentive plan could have the same effect as an historic district - saving the motels.

"If the end result is the same, then it really isn't an issue. If we can use incentives instead of restrictions, the historic district is less important than before," he said.

The incentives include less stringent zoning or variances for additions to existing motels and motels that maintain their existing building footprints.

Borough Commission recently approved new zoning regulations for the motel district, which is home to the bulk of the island's doo-wop motels.

The new guidelines modify building specifications with regard to height, parking, setbacks and other conditions.

"If the zoning and planning in the Crest goes in the direction we're looking at, then we can still protect the motel district," he said.

The proposed historic district extended from Morning Glory to Farragut roads between Atlantic Avenue and the beach. The boundaries have changed over time as some of the motels within the district were torn down to make way for new, multifamily condominiums.

MacElrevey said the preservation league is also waiting for the results of a Casino Reinvestment Development Authority study on the future of the motels before moving ahead with the historic district.

Meanwhile, Preservation New Jersey issued a news release Friday warning about the continued demolition of the doo-wop motels.

In May, that organization named the doo-wop motel district as one of its 10 Most Endangered Historic Sites.

Preservation New Jersey blamed "increased speculation in condominium construction, unregulated development and shortsighted public policy" for the loss of "at least a 100 of these irreplaceable icons of popular culture."

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:

[e-mail]

[MMM]

Thanks Marie. I wonder what the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority study is? I don't remember hearing about that before.

[writhinganacondo]

wildre said:

From Todays' AC Press

Doo-wop fans look to zoning to save motels
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, [phone]
Published: Saturday, November 5, 2005
Updated: Saturday, November 5, 2005

WILDWOOD CREST-Plans to have the borough's collection of 1950s and 1960s-era motels added to the state and national Registers of Historic Places are on hold.

But Dan MacElrevey, head of the Doo Wop Preservation League, said he is optimistic there are other ways to save the motels known for their neon signs, angular roofs and kidney-shaped pools.

MacElrevey said zoning changes within the borough and a proposed 10-point incentive plan could have the same effect as an historic district - saving the motels.

"If the end result is the same, then it really isn't an issue. If we can use incentives instead of restrictions, the historic district is less important than before," he said.

The incentives include less stringent zoning or variances for additions to existing motels and motels that maintain their existing building footprints.

Borough Commission recently approved new zoning regulations for the motel district, which is home to the bulk of the island's doo-wop motels.

The new guidelines modify building specifications with regard to height, parking, setbacks and other conditions.

"If the zoning and planning in the Crest goes in the direction we're looking at, then we can still protect the motel district," he said.

The proposed historic district extended from Morning Glory to Farragut roads between Atlantic Avenue and the beach. The boundaries have changed over time as some of the motels within the district were torn down to make way for new, multifamily condominiums.

MacElrevey said the preservation league is also waiting for the results of a Casino Reinvestment Development Authority study on the future of the motels before moving ahead with the historic district.

Meanwhile, Preservation New Jersey issued a news release Friday warning about the continued demolition of the doo-wop motels.

In May, that organization named the doo-wop motel district as one of its 10 Most Endangered Historic Sites.

Preservation New Jersey blamed "increased speculation in condominium construction, unregulated development and shortsighted public policy" for the loss of "at least a 100 of these irreplaceable icons of popular culture."

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:

[e-mail]

Translation? We've been reading this for years. The same report. The same reporter. Meanwhile everything is being flattened.

[wildre]

Martin, I believe the CDRA www.njcrda.com/home.html gives grants/low interest bonds to certain programs. So I guess they are looking at one of these to help the Motel Owners update their properties?

re

[MMM]

Thanks Marie.

[bono715]

I thought this article might be of interest:

Doo-wop paves way to Wildwoods' rebirth

Monday, November 7, 2005

By WILLIAM H. SOKOLIC
Courier-Post Staff

WILDWOOD
Los Angeles has its Hollywood sign in the hills.


Come next summer, the Wildwoods will have their own kitschy nameplate where Rio Grande Avenue meets the boardwalk.


A 9-foot-high sign is one of the final components toward putting the doo-wop stamp on the entranceway into the resort.


Add a Doo Wop Museum expected to open in the summer down the street from the convention center, and a moribund movement has renewed signs of life.


The demolition of motels in the Wildwoods in recent years to feed the growing demand for condos sapped the energy of a push to trade off the collection of 1950s- and 1960s-era motels that dominate the island.


To architectural students from Penn, Yale and Kent State universities who spent several years studying the significance of a style dubbed doo-wop, these motels -- marked by gaudy neon signage, Jetsonian curves, kidney-shaped pools and plastic palm trees -- were as defining to the Wildwoods as Victoriana was to Cape May.


The Morey Organization, which runs amusement piers, spearheaded the founding of the Doo Wop Preservation League to help promote the style as a tourism linchpin. To that end, the students developed a series of proposals, and the Rio Grande Avenue entranceway plays off one of those options.


Pavers and streetscapes and space-age lighting highlight several blocks approaching the boardwalk.


Commerce Bank, Wawa and Subway all tapped a doo-wop theme for designs for new construction.


And a few years back, the Moreys built the Starlux Boutique Hotel, modeled after doo-wop but with 21st-century amenities.


The new sign -- spelling out "Wildwoods" -- will be lighted by spotlights.


The project also will include a boardwalk extension down to Ocean Avenue, beachball-shaped seats and an outdoor rotunda at the base of Ocean Avenue.


The total cost of the project is in excess of $1 million, said John Siciliano, executive director of the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority, which oversees the convention center.


Since the site is partially on the center's parking lot, GWTIDA helped with the funding and design. Last month, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority chipped in with a $300,000 grant.


"This completes and enhances the work the city has done on Rio Grande Avenue," Siciliano said.


The sign is symbolic of the old and new coming together in Wildwood, said Jack Morey, executive vice president of the Morey Organization.


Work should begin within a month on the $1 million Doo Wop Museum, which will sit across Ocean Avenue, a half-block from the convention center. The Preservation League, the lead agency behind the museum, still needs $200,000 to complete the building, but Morey doesn't see that as a problem.


Some furnishings from the Preservation League's offices will be transferred to the museum, which also will include new exhibits honoring the post-World War II era.


"It's Wildwood's unique personality, our history, what makes us special and different," Morey said. "And the museum absolutely goes hand in hand with the entranceway on Rio Grande Avenue."


The outside area will have a stage for lawn concerts but also will feature a unique neon garden composed of signs salvaged from demolished motels, such as one plucked Tuesday from the now-defunct Hi Lilli motel in Wildwood Crest by Randy Hentges, president of ABS Signs in Wildwood.


"We've taken signs down in the last year or so," Hentges said.


Although many of the signs collected by the company are in bad shape, those from the former Ebb Tide, Casa Bahama and Sea Star motels are expected to be part of the garden.


The idea is to have the signs lit up and displayed on the grounds surrounding the museum.


Reach William H. Sokolic at [phone] or [e-mail]

[FlyinGN]

wow!!!! I can't wait to see it! Thats great news!

[wildre]

bono, thanks for the share!

[Doowopper]

Great news! We are definately making great headway with things like this, just need to stop the condos from being built in the motel zone.