CAPE MAY – The City Council is planning for an estimated $2.2 million bond ordinance to fund preservation work at the city-owned Emlen Physick Estate.

The proposal would allow the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts and Humanities, which leases the estate from the city, to make needed repairs in keeping with historic management guidelines. Funding for the effort would be significantly less burdensome using a city bond rather than a bank loan.

MAC Executive Director Jody Alessandrine presented the proposal during the public portion of the council’s Feb. 4 meeting. It had been discussed earlier by the council in a closed executive session.

The city bought the historic structure in the 1970s and subsequently leased it to MAC. Central to the grounds is an 18-room mansion built by famed architect Frank Furness in 1879 for Dr. Emlen Physick Jr.

MAC has restored the facility and operates a museum there with guided tours. The four-acre estate contains numerous outbuildings that serve a variety of purposes, including a café, a museum shop and a ticket office.

Mayor Zach Mullock called MAC an excellent tenant. He praised all that MAC has done for city tourism, saying the proposed bond for improvements at the estate represented a win-win for the city and MAC. The project would be covered by the municipal bond to gain a more favorable interest rate and lower interest payments.

The public was told that the bond issue would represent no financial risk to the city, with MAC seen as a reliable partner that would absorb the financial burden of the bond issue with no impact on city taxpayers.

Alessandrine highlighted both MAC’s many contributions to the estate and the impact of its programming on the city’s tourism in general. The discussion also focused on the city’s strong financial position, which allows for consideration of such a bond issue without jeopardizing other municipal projects.

Public comment was largely supportive of the long partnership between the city and MAC. Council members expressed the need for a strong contract relationship regarding the bond payoff that protects taxpayers. Under consideration is a 10-year bond issue.

Mullock said the improvements to the estate, a signature building in the historically minded city, have to be looked at as improvements to a city-owned asset. He said the council would soon see a formal bond ordinance for introduction.

Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.