CAPE MAY – A notice on the Cape May City website says that the city will not move forward with its memorial bench replacement program.
The resolution authorizing the program was adopted at the Sept. 19 Cape May City Council meeting. No explanation was provided about the change of plans regarding the bench replacements except that, “The city listens to its residents & visitors and have heard their concerns.”
Cape May is wrestling with a problem that is demanding attention in several other municipalities: What to do with deteriorating benches that family and friends have dedicated to a loved one.
Memorial benches were a hit when the programs were first established, but many benches are now over a decade old and succumbing to the erosive environment of an oceanfront location. In Cape May, attention is focused on 370 such benches along the city’s Promenade. Many of the benches date from the period 2009 to 2014.
At the Sept. 19 council meeting, Councilwoman Maureen McDade said every one of the 370 Promenade benches has been inventoried. The oldest were scheduled for replacement in the 2023-2024 off-season.
McDade said the city planned to replace 275 of the 370 benches before next summer. The remaining benches were to be replaced in the following off-season.
McDade said the effort was not just focused on the replacement of deteriorating benches, but also on bringing more definition to the bench dedication program.
As McDade explained it, the 275 benches that were to be in the first cycle of replacements are all out of warranty and over 10 years old. The original 10-year warranty period was to be used to set parameters for the program: The purchase of a bench would last for 10 years.
For the current benches, a newly created database containing information from the original applications was to be used to contact those who purchased benches in the past. They were to be given what McDade called “the first opportunity to participate in the new program,” meaning they would have to commit to a replacement bench and pay the new fee covering another 10-year period.
The original fee for the dedicated bench was $1,416. The new price had not yet been nailed down, with the city still seeking the most durable replacement benches at the best price. Mayor Zack Mullock said the program was not being looked at as a revenue source; the new price was to be set at the city’s cost.
Those who elected not to participate in the new program would’ve had the option to take their bench and plaque free of charge or, if they chose not to take the bench, it would’ve been recycled. If the bench was to be picked up by the current owner, the city would’ve held it until March 2024, providing appropriate arrangements had been made.
Those who did go forward with the new benches would’ve had a replacement bench placed in the same location as their current one. The plaque would’ve been transferred to the new bench.
The city had planned to send communications to bench holders in the group of 275 by Oct. 1, with a request for a decision about staying in the program or leaving it due by Nov. 17.
All of that is apparently on hold. The city’s website notice says that although the city is “not moving forward with the new benches,” the deterioration of the existing benches continues. The notice states, “Replacing the benches, as with all physical things, will have to occur at some time.”
The city concluded its notice with the hope “that a fair and equitable plan can be accomplished.”
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
