Council Considers Locations for Historic Structures Display

CAPE MAY – In the 1970s, Cape May’s many examples of Victorian architecture were in danger. No historic status protected them. A team of architects and preservationists from the Historic American Building Survey (HABS) sought to preserve the buildings and tell their story. 
The pen and ink drawings by this small band of preservationists did more than document the treasure trove of Victorian architecture that still existed in the city. They helped define a strategy for the city’s future, a future tied up in preserving the material culture of a lost age.
Tom Carroll, a member of the city’s Historic Preservation Commission and an officer of the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts and Humanities, recounted those efforts at a meeting of City Council Oct. 2. Carroll was part of a committee formed by Mayor Clarence Lear to make recommendations about a location for the drawings.
Carroll spoke of “Operation Gingerbread,” an endeavor to produce a set of architectural drawings of some of Cape May’s most iconic structures, which were later put on file at the Library of Congress.
“These drawings served as the basis for Cape May’s eventual designation as a National Historic Landmark City,” Carroll said. “What is amazing is that these structures are all still with us today,” he added.
Carroll came to council with a proposal to display these drawings and associated photographs as part of a permanent exhibit available to city visitors. They are now on display at the Emlen Physick House until November.
Carroll proposed that a set of copies of the drawings be displayed in City Hall until a suitable home can be identified for a permanent exhibit.
The drawings are part of a series of panels that include, with one of the drawings, a brief history of the structure and pictures showing the building as it was in the 1970s and as it is today, after decades of careful restoration and preservation. 
Twenty-four of the framed panels would line the walls of the council meeting room, with two other panels adorning the hallway leading to the auditorium/meeting room, along with a panel introducing the exhibit.
Roger Furlin, also a member of the mayor’s committee, proposed that council consider designating a city-owned building on the Promenade as a National Historic Landmark Museum. The drawings could eventually rotate there from City Hall and be paired with a trove of pictures of old Cape May.
For Furlin, who will end his term on council in January, this would allow visitors to the city to better understand the importance of the landmark city designation and to become more familiar with Cape May’s history.
While no formal vote was taken, an informal consensus was quickly reached on council to support the display in City Hall after the end of the exhibit at the Physick Estate.
The city embraced a project that will do more than just tell its history. It will serve as a constant reminder in the governing body’s meeting space that the city’s future is intertwined with its past.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com. 
Properties Displayed in Panels: 
Cape Island Baptist
Cape Island Presbyterian
Carroll Villa (Mad Batter)
Chalfonte Hotel
Colonial Hotel (Inn of Cape May)
Congress Hall
Edward Knight Cottage
Eldridge John House (Pink House)
Emlen Physick House
Fryer’s Cottage
George Allen House (Southern Mansion)
George Boyd House
George Hildreth
Henry Hunt
J. Stratton Ware
Jackson Clubhouse (The Mainstay Inn)
John McCreary (The Abbey)
John McConnell
Joseph Evans
Joseph Hall
Joseph Lewis
Macomber Hotel
Neafie Levy House
St. John Church
Stockton Cottage
William Weightman (Angel of the Sea)