Former City Officials Against Solarium Demolition

CAPE MAY — Two former mayors and a past city councilman have signed a letter to Sen. Jeff Van Drew requesting the city not be allowed to tear down the Solarium as part of the project to construct a new Convention Hall.
Former mayor Jerry Gaffney spoke to the Convention Hall Project Team at a Wed., Sept 15 meeting. He said a letter was sent to Van Drew requesting Solarium not be demolished, signed by himself, former councilman Joseph Fox and former mayor Robert Elwell.
Gaffney said the letter stated the importance of the Solarium to the city, its rebuilding in 1993 at a cost of $400,000 and the revenue it has produced. He said he did not want to see the Convention Hall project delayed and suggested the Solarium be attached to the new Convention Hall with some minor alterations.
Convention Hall Project Team member Dennis Crowley said the demolition of the Solarium was for the greater good. He said council made a decision to tear it down.
Team member Jack Wichterman, who also serves a Deputy Mayor, said he was very much in favor of preserving the Solarium at earlier meetings. He said it became clear to him that the building could not be preserved.
Resident Barbara Skinner addressed the project team during public comment. She quoted from regulations from the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) that stated reconstructed buildings shall not be considered eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, however, such properties will qualify if an integral part of historic districts.
Skinner said the city should get a legal opinion from Robert Fineberg, solicitor of the city’s Historic Preservation Commission and the SHPO. She said most people in town, “generally speaking,” did not want a modern-looking building.
City Manager Bruce MacLeod said voters by a 2-1 margin in 2008 approved a new Convention Hall than did not include the Solarium and for a building that did not resemble the 1917 version of the building. He said the city has been working with the state Department of Environmental Protection and been in touch with the SHPO.
“We will fulfill their requirements,” said MacLeod.
Mayor Edward J. Mahaney Jr. requested MacLeod keep City Council informed of the city’s continuing communication with the SHPO.
Skinner addressed members of the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cape May at a Tue. Sept. 14 meeting. She suggested including a small movie theater as part of the design of a new Convention Hall.
Skinner said she believed there was additional grant funding available for a theater district from the Casino Redevelopment Investment Authority (CRDA). Authority rests with State Historic Preservation Office and National Park Service for demolition in Cape May, a National Historic Landmark town, she said.
Skinner said boundary for the historic district stretches to the ocean not to Beach Avenue, according to the State Historic Preservation Office and the Department of the Interior. She said whatever is built and torn down must go through reviews by the SHPO and if federal money is received, as was done with Congress Hall’s restoration, a 106 Review may be ordered.
A 106 Review “gathers information to decide which properties in the area that may be affected by the project are listed, or are eligible for listing, in the National Register of Historic Places, determine how those historic properties might be affected, explore measures to avoid or reduce harm to historic properties and reach agreement with the SHPO. Adverse effects can be direct or indirect and including physical destruction or damage, alteration inconsistent with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, relocation of the property, change in the character of the property’s use or setting, introduction of incompatible visual, atmospheric, or audible elements, neglect and deterioration, transfer, lease, or sale of a historic property out of federal control without adequate preservation restrictions,” according to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
Skinner insisted the city does not have permission from the state to tear down the Solarium.
Chamber President Bill Causey said the proposed designs of the new Convention Hall had some elements of the old hall. He said five months ago, he addressed City Council noting if the project were prolonged any longer, the city would get a smaller building that will cost more money and be a stronger burden on the taxpayers.
Causey said he did not want the city to reverse course and look at more drawings and ideas or the process “will go on for another two or three years.
He noted Henry’s on the Beach restaurant has ended its lease with the city, two doors down from Convention Hall.
“It has been devastating to our economy,” said Causey.
He said while he wished the project had been done differently, at this point in time, he just wanted “to see it get done.”