CAPE MAY — A on-line petition is asking City Council to rename the new Convention Hall, Mariners Hall.

The petition was by created Ben Miller, author of the book, “The First Resort: Fun, Sun, Fire and War in Cape May, Americas Original Seaside Town.” He states the facility should be named Mariners Hall “in honor of the many fishermen who have lost their lives off the coast, those who continue to risk their lives each day and the Coast Guard sailors who work tirelessly in the waters off the coast of Cape May.”

Miller said he created the petition as a way of bringing the many people who support this new name together in one place, so city leaders can see the strong support for Mariners Hall.

“The brave fishermen, Coast Guard sailors and every mariner working off the coast surely have earned the honor over the years. Far too many of them have never come home. Let's never forget their memory,” he said on the Change.org website.
The site notes the city has a Fisherman’s Memorial along the harbor but many visitors do not know its location.

“This new hall would be something much different, a large representation of Cape May's commitment towards the memory of those fishermen who've been lost and support of the many who continue to risk their lives each day,” he said.

Comments from petition signers include:

• It’s a great idea. Why didn’t our city leaders think of it?”

• Never mind that Baltimore's arena is named "First Mariner Marina" after the First Mariner Bank. It's a sporting and performance arena, and only sometimes an arts center. It adds character, something that was sorely lacking from the last convention center that likely never actually hosted a convention.”

• “The right thing to do!”

• “All those people take risks everyday and not all come back. It's the least we can do so the families left behind know that we care. Those that do come back deserve some recognition for all they do out there!”

• “I was raised in Cape May City and my father was lost at sea on a commercial clam boat in 1957.”

The petition website is: http://www.change.org/petition. Put Cape May in the search box.