Want the Solarium? Come and Get It

CAPE MAY – Want to own the Solarium? Move it to your site by Nov. 15 and it’s free.
With City Council approving a design concept know as Scheme 6 for a new Convention Hall, it has agreed the Solarium must be moved or demolished from its current location. While demolition seems the most likely scenario to keep the project on schedule, Mayor Edward J. Mahaney Jr. has not ruled out giving the Solarium away.
At a Wed., Aug. 18 meeting of the Convention Hall Project Team, member Dennis Crowley suggested offering the building to anyone willing to have it moved off its current location by Nov. 15. Demolition of the old Convention Hall and Solarium are scheduled to begin Dec. 1, if all goes according to plans.
City Manager Bruce MacLeod said the city explored moving the Solarium to five separate properties owned by the city, finally settling on a site on Delaware Avenue near the Nature Center. When bids were sought from house movers, only one bid was received for $180,000.
He said in addition to the cost of moving the building, a foundation would have to be constructed at the Delaware Avenue site, a parking space prepared and water and sewer lines installed at an estimated cost of $200,000 to $300,000. MacLeod said all told, moving the Solarium could cost the city $400,000 to $500,000.
He said City Council would have to pass a bond ordinance to cover the costs.
On the other hand, the cost to demolish the Solarium is estimated at $20,000 to $25,000, said MacLeod. He said whoever wanted to move the building had 60 days to accomplish the task.
“You want it, you can have it,” said Crowley.
Construction Manager Steve Markley of Hunter Roberts said it would take four to six weeks to jack up and crib the Solarium. He called it a painstaking process.
Mahaney said the city needs to be notified no later than September 7 that a party wants to move the building. He said the move could be complicated including the temporary removal of utility wires.
Crowley said the Solarium should remain in Cape May.
“We don’t want it in West Cape May,” he said.