Older Style Facade to be Presented at Hall Meeting

CAPE MAY — At an Aug.14 town hall meeting on the topic of building a new Convention Hall here, expect to see a rendering of a new facility that more closely resembles a hall built in 1917 and washed away by a Nor’easter in March 1962.
At a July 29 town meeting, members of the public called for a Convention Hall with a facade resembling the 1917 hall rather than a modern design presented that featured lots of glass.
At an Aug. 5 City Council meeting, Mayor Edward J. Mahaney Jr., said he asked Architect Martin Kimmel to create a design that more resembles the outward appearance of the 1917 facility.
Mahaney said he asked Kimmel to bring a design that shows the internal components and how they can be moved around or reconfigured.
He also asked Kimmel to create renderings to scale. Members of the public at the July 29 meeting said they feared a new Convention Hall would dwarf other buildings on the Promenade.
“We’ve asked him to put the whole Promenade, a two-block process, in the same scale so we can see just how massive that building was,” said the mayor.
Mahaney said he also asked Kimmel to show what the city could get for a mid-ranged priced hall. Kimmel presented an earlier design in the $6 million range.
“What we are looking to do in the second meeting is to narrow the focus somewhat taking the ideas, trends and patterns we saw from the first meeting…” said Mahaney.
He said council wished to get a clearer understanding of the type, location, size and money needed for a new Convention Hall. Mahaney said council has heard the uses for a new hall.
Another question is what type of special events would be held in a new hall and how much seating would be necessary. At the earlier town meeting, some residents endorsed a 1,500-seat facility while others questioned the need for that large a hall.
Mahaney said Terry Brown, head of Civic Affairs, told him the largest crowd to ever occupy the current Convention Hall was 1,100 persons for Marine and Army band concerts in the late 1970s, early 1980s.
The mayor said since that time, the largest audiences have been for music festivals, drawing an audience of 800 for shows like Little Anthony and the Imperials. He asked if a larger Convention Hall were built, would the city want to bring in such entertainment.
“To this date, we haven’t had a bigger venue,” said Mahaney. “If we did, we’d have to widen our focus somewhat it terms of what type of events you want to have and who you’d want to appeal to…”
Resident Jean Powick, who led a successful petition drive that caused council to rescind a $10.5 million bond to build a new hall, said no information has been presented as to the impact on the tax rate of building a new Convention Hall. She also asked if options for locating the new hall away from the beach would be discussed at the Aug. 14 town meeting.
Mahaney said a report would be given on the viability of building the hall elsewhere in town.
“We’ve been looking at something else and we have to tell you how that compares with what you have now,” he said. “No matter what site you pick, there are going to be advantages and disadvantages so you have to weigh what is in the best interests of the city.”
He said the tax impact and costs of a new hall would be examined at a third town meeting when the city has “a better idea of where the public is going in terms of what we are going to do with the facility, what size it is going to be and the type of construction.”
The mayor said during a recent trip to Trenton, he was exploring available grants for the new facility.
Resident Christine Miller suggested building a new hall that would not require the demolition of the Solarium but expand slightly to the north and south on the Promenade. She also suggested less retail and restaurant space, which would allow a bigger ballroom.