Post by wildre on Feb 22, 2006 9:33:48 GMT -5
From today's AC Press
Wildwood Crest's doo-wop gets a hand from CRDA
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Staff Writer, (609) 272-7258
Published: Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, February 22, 2006
— Miami Beach is gloriously decked out in art deco splendor, but even that city would be hard-pressed to match the kitschy, outrageously themed doo-wop architecture of Wildwood Crest.
However, development pressures in the Cape May County shore town could wipe out many of the colorful motels that encompass the nation's largest collection of doo-wop buildings.
In what is seen as a test case for New Jersey coastal communities threatened by overdevelopment, consultants will study ways to save the doo-wop motels from the wrecking ball and make them more financially stable.
The state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority approved $140,000 Tuesday to get the $170,000 study started — and none too soon, according to the planning and engineering firm that will help Wildwood Crest with its preservation efforts.
“We're losing 20 to 30 buildings a year,” said Jeremy J. Alvarez, director of planning for Vollmer Associates of Philadelphia. “We're going to be under way with this study today.”
Wildwood Crest has more than 200 buildings featuring the doo-wop architectural style from the 1950s and '60s. Its motels are dressed in turquoise-and-pink hues, plastic palm trees, kidney-shaped pools and neon signs from the bygone era.
Despite calls to preserve the motels, developers eager to capitalize on Wildwood Crest's seashore location have been knocking down the structures — an estimated 20 percent have already been demolished in the city's proposed historic district — to make room for new condominiums.
Karlis Povisils, director of research and policy for the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, ridiculed the new projects as “cookie cutter, vinyl-sided condo boxes.”
Povisils said the preservation study will try to save the doo-wop motels by making them more profitable. Recommendations may include giving the motel owners financial incentives, restructuring their debt or possibly having the city or state enact favorable zoning or building regulations.
“I think the ideal situation would be if the economies of these hotels could work and the buildings could be preserved as they are. The real problem is the economics of the hotel industry. Many of these businesses are only marginally profitable or suffer from deferred maintenance,” Povisils said in an interview after the CRDA approved the study Tuesday at its monthly board and committee meetings.
Wildwood Crest motel owners have resisted efforts to establish a historic district for the doo-wop architecture, believing it could lead to restrictions that would prevent them from selling or demolishing their properties for redevelopment, according to the CRDA.
The threat to Wildwood Crest's historic structures is the same challenge faced by other New Jersey coastal communities as they grapple with the preserve-or-redevelop argument. In that sense, Wildwood Crest's doo-wop study will serve as a test case for shore towns, Povisils said.
The CRDA's $140,000 for the study will be combined with $30,000 from the state Department of Community Affairs. The DCA's Office of Smart Growth, the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office and the state Department of Environmental Protection may work with the CRDA to develop recommendations.
Thanking the CRDA for its help, Wildwood Crest Mayor Carl Groon expressed hope that the study will protect the doo-wop motel district.
“I think it's an important project for our community,” Groon said. “By us working with you and other agencies, we may be able to solve some problems we couldn't have done ourselves.”
Wildwood Crest's doo-wop gets a hand from CRDA
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Staff Writer, (609) 272-7258
Published: Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, February 22, 2006
— Miami Beach is gloriously decked out in art deco splendor, but even that city would be hard-pressed to match the kitschy, outrageously themed doo-wop architecture of Wildwood Crest.
However, development pressures in the Cape May County shore town could wipe out many of the colorful motels that encompass the nation's largest collection of doo-wop buildings.
In what is seen as a test case for New Jersey coastal communities threatened by overdevelopment, consultants will study ways to save the doo-wop motels from the wrecking ball and make them more financially stable.
The state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority approved $140,000 Tuesday to get the $170,000 study started — and none too soon, according to the planning and engineering firm that will help Wildwood Crest with its preservation efforts.
“We're losing 20 to 30 buildings a year,” said Jeremy J. Alvarez, director of planning for Vollmer Associates of Philadelphia. “We're going to be under way with this study today.”
Wildwood Crest has more than 200 buildings featuring the doo-wop architectural style from the 1950s and '60s. Its motels are dressed in turquoise-and-pink hues, plastic palm trees, kidney-shaped pools and neon signs from the bygone era.
Despite calls to preserve the motels, developers eager to capitalize on Wildwood Crest's seashore location have been knocking down the structures — an estimated 20 percent have already been demolished in the city's proposed historic district — to make room for new condominiums.
Karlis Povisils, director of research and policy for the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, ridiculed the new projects as “cookie cutter, vinyl-sided condo boxes.”
Povisils said the preservation study will try to save the doo-wop motels by making them more profitable. Recommendations may include giving the motel owners financial incentives, restructuring their debt or possibly having the city or state enact favorable zoning or building regulations.
“I think the ideal situation would be if the economies of these hotels could work and the buildings could be preserved as they are. The real problem is the economics of the hotel industry. Many of these businesses are only marginally profitable or suffer from deferred maintenance,” Povisils said in an interview after the CRDA approved the study Tuesday at its monthly board and committee meetings.
Wildwood Crest motel owners have resisted efforts to establish a historic district for the doo-wop architecture, believing it could lead to restrictions that would prevent them from selling or demolishing their properties for redevelopment, according to the CRDA.
The threat to Wildwood Crest's historic structures is the same challenge faced by other New Jersey coastal communities as they grapple with the preserve-or-redevelop argument. In that sense, Wildwood Crest's doo-wop study will serve as a test case for shore towns, Povisils said.
The CRDA's $140,000 for the study will be combined with $30,000 from the state Department of Community Affairs. The DCA's Office of Smart Growth, the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office and the state Department of Environmental Protection may work with the CRDA to develop recommendations.
Thanking the CRDA for its help, Wildwood Crest Mayor Carl Groon expressed hope that the study will protect the doo-wop motel district.
“I think it's an important project for our community,” Groon said. “By us working with you and other agencies, we may be able to solve some problems we couldn't have done ourselves.”
