Doo Wop Safari

Destination doo wop
Preservation effort offers tour of Wildwoods architecture
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Friday, September 1, 2006

WILDWOOD — Preservationists, historians and everyday fans of the Wildwoods have been invited to take part in a sort of urban safari this fall.

But instead of plains teeming with wildlife, this safari will highlight bright neon signs, jutting roof lines and plastic palm trees.

The endangered species on this tour? The island's collection of 1950s and 1960s-era motels.

The motels were named to Preservation New Jersey's 2005 list of the state's 10 Most Endangered Historic Sites. Then, the National Trust for Historic Preservation added the motels to its 2006 list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.

“We thought it was an appropriate time to take people on the tour and highlight what's happening in the Wildwoods,” said Swathy Keshavamurthy of Preservation New Jersey.

The group has joined forces with the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia to offer an up-close tour of the motels Oct. 21 to focus attention on both the motels that have been demolished in favor of new construction and the motels that remain.

Ron Emrich, executive director of Preservation New Jersey, said a tour bus will collect visitors in New Brunswick and PATCO's Woodcrest station before heading to Five Mile Beach.

“We wanted our membership to learn more about them. We'll take reservations (for the tour) until we can't take anymore,” he said.

Emrich said about 100 of the motels, with exotic of futuristic names like the Hi Lili and the Satellite, have been torn down in the past several years.

“Of course it worries us. The Wildwoods have the most significant collection of mid-20th century architecture in the country, if not the world,” Emrich said.

Tour goers will see the new construction, primarily condominiums, that have replaced them, but they will also see the ones that have been restored, modernized and maintained.

Emrich said the future of those that remain is tied to economic incentives and education, demonstrating how they can be renovated to meet modern visitor needs while maintaining their doo-wop flavor.

“There's trouble putting all your eggs in one basket, in this case condos,” Emrich said. “You've got to retain and maintain a variety of products.”

Keshavamurthy said the organization has offered similar tours of other historic places such as sections of Newark and Jersey City, and this year it decided to restart the tour program in Wildwood.

That's a move Dan MacElrevey, head of the Doo Wop Preservation League, welcomes.

“It's amazing to me how many e-mails we get about the Wildwoods and the 1950s and 1960s. A lot of people remember it fondly. Sometimes, we're too close to see that,” MacElrevey said.

To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com