Cape May to present plans for new convention hall

CAPE MAY - After doing more planning and tweaking than teenagers in prom season, Cape May officials finally have the blueprint for a new $10.5 million Convention Hall.

On Feb. 19 at City Hall, Mayor Edward J. Mahaney Jr. and the City Council will publicly present the final design for the building, which is nearly three times the size of the old hall. Demolition of the existing convention center is scheduled to begin in May.

The Beach Avenue facility will increase opportunities for tourism in the resort, Mahaney said.

State Department of Environmental Protection approval to build on the oceanfront site of the outdated hall required a slight relocation of the proposed center, which was designed by Kimmel-Bogrette Architecture & Site of Conshohocken.

Plans originally called for the two-story, 30,240-square-foot stucco structure to back onto a portion of what is now beach. After months of meetings with environmental officials, the hall entrance was moved 24 feet nearer the street, allowing the "virgin sand," as the DEP termed it, to remain untouched.

Five public hearings also were held, with voters - who approved a bond ordinance for the project in 2008 - giving input on everything from restrooms to concerns that the structure might dwarf nearby 19th-century facades.

The City Council recently hired the Hunter Roberts Construction Group of Philadelphia to act as the initial construction manager, Mahaney said. The firm will review the final plans and help adjust bid specifications. The city expects construction to be completed by Memorial Day weekend next year.

Local leaders had for years kicked around the idea of building a new convention center. The architecturally unremarkable current building, which is 12,240 square feet, was hurriedly constructed after a 1962 nor'easter flattened the previous hall. It was closed in 2008 when inspectors deemed it unsafe.

Residents and business owners have complained that lack of a convention facility was a liability in what was already a challenging economy. Hotels, bed-and-breakfasts, restaurants, and stores have lost revenue that would have been generated by visitors attending business gatherings, concerts, trade shows, and other events held at the old facility, they said.

The original Cape May Convention Hall, designed by local resident Sherman Sharp, opened to great fanfare on July 4, 1917. Planners at the time were trying to move the resort away from its fanciful Victorian look, which was falling out of fashion.

Sharp's beige stucco design, which can be seen in sepia photographs, captured the sleek lines and younger, "beachy" feel that town fathers sought, Martin Kimmel - the lead architect of the new hall - said in 2008.

Despite the town's return to its Victorian roots in recent decades, the next Cape May Convention Hall gives no nod to the late-19th-century style.

Mahaney has forbidden Kimmel and others associated with the project from talking to the media. But when the facility was proposed, Kimmel said he was happily surprised that the Cape May Historic Preservation Commission had urged him to take a different approach.

Because there was no convention hall during the town's Golden Age, local historians contended that a new Victorian-theme building would be inappropriate.

Kimmel's design will "graciously fit" into the quaint Cape May landscape and take advantage of the site's ocean views, according to Mahaney. The hall is neither too big for its surroundings nor too insignificant to make an impact, he said.

"We think we have created a plan for this building that will take us well into the future," the mayor said.

The center will have a 32,000-square-foot auditorium that can be adapted to a variety of uses, from roller-skating to performing-arts events. Seating for up to 1,100 will fold into the walls, much like bleachers in school gyms. The hall will be available for private functions, such as weddings and business conferences, Mahaney said.

Though construction will be paid for mostly through the bond ordinance, the city has obtained a $1.5 million grant from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority. It also is applying for energy grants for the building, which will have geothermal heating and cooling systems and rooftop solar panels.

Students at Temple University's School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, under the direction of dean Elizabeth H. Barber, are helping Cape May develop a business and management plan for the center. The hall ultimately will be run by a new city department, Mahaney said.

"We want the hall to help strengthen our shoulder seasons" in the spring and fall, Mahaney said. "Our tourism base had evolved into a 10-month economy here, but because of the economic downturn, we've seen that diminishing somewhat in recent years. We want this building to help the town reestablish that 10-month tourism season."