RIP: The Monta Cello Motel

[AnthonyV]

My family and I are both sorry and sad to have learned that the more recent owners of the Monta Cello Motel - over on Seaview Ave about a block away from the beach - have also decided to sell after buying the place back around 2000.

This was one of the first original Wildwood Crest properties my family helped finance many, many years ago and just one more example of the continual "undoing" of Wildwood Crest's more unique and original structures.

If things continue at this rate, within 5-8 years I have no doubt that I'll simply say my farewell to Wildwood forever and move to a town like Ocean City, NJ or perhaps Point Pleasant instead.

At least I know what ther true character of those resort towns is and has always been about, rather than what developers want to turn them into by removing the past and destroying the history to the extent that it's been done in WIldwood Crest.

Plus, in five years I hardly doubt that it'll matter anymore! WWC will probably have turned from a town I've grown up in into a town I can hardly recognize anymore - which is sad.

[Al Alven]

I believe the Monta Cello was actually demolished back in January. I was down there then, hoping to snap a few last pics of it, but (unless I had the wrong lot, which I'm fairly certain I didn't) it was already gone.

Anthony, again, I can't imagine what this offseason must be like for someone like you, a guy who literally grew up in Wildwood Crest. As a mere Crest visitor, I feel like my heart has been torn out 50-times over. You must be at wit's end, I know.

In all honestly, do you feel there will be a breaking point? Do you feel that, sooner or later, something is going to give, and (whether it's "too late" or not), a moratorium of sorts will be placed upon the demolition of classic structures/the development of new, bland buildings?

Or, has the Crest already gotten to the point of no return...?

I only ask because, as I posted the other day, I truly believe that things are starting to turn around in Wildwood proper. While some demolition/new construction continues there, the town as a whole seems to understand the importance of retaining the town's "uniqueness."

A long list of "neo-Doo Wop" structures have arisen, and adding more/preserving some of what is there seems to be more of a priority now. Do you think that, perhaps, the people running the town have noted what is going on in the Crest, and have realized that they HAVE TO go in an opposite direction?

What do you think?

[FlyinGN]

even tho we are losing our beloved hotels. I feel its stil getting better. in a way.. The "Doo Wop" concept has been enbraced by many down there and it is shown but the resto of a few hotels to the doo wop theme.. Lets just hope the monentum keeps going..

Frank

[AnthonyV]

`Al,

It seems like things have improved more so in Wildwood than Wildwood Crest or North Wildwood.

Until maybe last autumn and after the season really ended, we used to go to our home in the Crest about two weekends a month just to get away and to check things out. There was always something comforting in seeing the same buildings that I grew up with as a kid and knowing that they were STILL there for me and so many other people who not only live there, but more importantly for families have long vacationed and visited the island... It's as if there was something truly comforting in the mere "continuance" in your life from childhood-to-adulthood that time could not change (or so it seemed).

But that's what those motels came to represent for so many of us. You and people like Frank know what I'm trying to say so I won't even try explaining it. It was just a feeling you got that's being taken away in a very cruel and unsettling way.

I remember when Diamond Beach became a condo mecca between 1985-1999 and it seemed that most people could care less since it was so far removed from everything else and there was basically nothing there to knock down except for the old fire-prone Playpen Lounge and Diamond Beach Motel Resort. It was marshy and sandy and a breeding ground, it seemed, for these killer green flies and vampire-like mosquitos more than anything IMO.

But this onslaught on some historically important motels in the Crest is something different because with every building that comes down so do millions of memories that were created over these many years for thousands of people. Every time I go back down it seems that what I see just hurts more and more and more...I HOPE AND PRAY THAT I AM WRONG, but I don't see it subsiding anytime soon. The money is too good to pass up evidently for some very tired and frustrated motel owners. I think it's too easy now to give into the "selling" trend to developers. In my opinion the genesis of this trend started with the selling of the Memory Motel a few years ago. And it just hasn't let up since that time!

In my opinion, I think it'll get worse in Wildwood Crest before it gets better. At least over the next few years. God, I hope I'm wrong. I'd hate to leave this place to be honest.

[FlyinGN]

Yes Anthony, I know EXACTLY what you are trying to say..

I do agree with what you said about Diamond beach too. I remember when I was undeveloped land... Like you said.. I think it will get worse before the building boom stops.. But the end of the boom will come.. and so will the seling and destruction of our beloved hotels.. But only the strong will survive..

Frank

[Robert]

Boy, it's bad enough we lost most of the classic amusements on the piers, now we have to deal with losing the motels, too at a rate faster than we realize. I'd better hold on to my motel guides, they might become collector's items! As for choosing another vacation spot, that's how I felt several years ago when Dino Beach and the Golden Nugget closed, I was so pissed I vowed not to return to Wildwood until the Golden Nugget reopened, because what would be the point of me going to Wildwood if I couldn't ride one of my favorite rides? Then in the meantime the Castle Dracula burned. I was so pissed off at that because I was actually thinking about going back in 2002 to experience the castle again after 4 years then the fire squooshed those plans. I saw the news of the fire first on Anthony's site. When I saw the words "burnt to the ground" I was in shock because that was my most favorite attraction in all of Wildwood. I wound up going to Knoebels instead that summer and riding their excellent haunted mansion. Last summer I went to Lake George, NY and experienced a few great haunted attractions, The House of Frankenstein wax museum and Dr. Morbid's Haunted House. Both were great attractions. In the future I hope to go to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada and experience all the attractions they have there, they added some new dark rides recently. Halloween Productions looks like a great company, like a modern day Bill Tracy in a way. They did work on new Niagara Falls attractions like Spiderman dark ride and the Pirates ex-Dark River in Wildwood. Another park with preserved, renovated dark rides is Playland, Rye, NY. They have the last old mill in the on the east coast which was renovated with new scenes 2001-2002. And the Zombie Castle dark ride which was renovated 2002 with all-new scarier scenes. There's another dark ride, the Flying Witch. Rehoboth and OC MD are my other favorite dark ride spots, and Seaside Heights. Perhaps I will return to Wildwood one day, when the Nugget is restored and perhaps the Nickels break ground on a new attraction.