Beach Theatre Demolition Hearing Resumes Tonight

CAPE MAY — “Our fight to save the Beach Theatre is very much alive as we begin 2011,” said Steve Jackson, founder and president of the Beach Theatre Foundation in an email to friends of the organization.
The city’s Zoning Board resumes its hearing on the Beach Theatre demolition application tonight (Thur. Jan 27.) beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The application for demolition has a long history with the city’s Historic Preservation Commission which denied a demolition certificate last year causing the theater’s owners, Frank Investments, to appeal the decision in Superior Court. The court sent the demolition application to the zoning board for a new hearing.
The Zoning Board last met Nov. 10 for three and a half hours without finishing testimony. At that time, Steven Nehmad, attorney for Frank Theatres, said it would cost between $750,000 to $1 million to restore the theater section of the building. Fenwick said the county appraised the entire building for $900,000. He said it was not economically feasible to restore the building to meet construction codes.
“We have engaged some of the best known historic preservation experts in the northeast. We are confident we can prove that the loss of this structure is not only a major cultural and community loss to the City of Cape May but it will be a lost architectural treasure to the City, the state and the country,” said Jackson.
“The Beach Theatre is an important example of mid twentieth century theater design by an acclaimed architect. It represents the turning point from the grand movie palaces of the 1920s-1930s to the more multi-purpose theater and retail structures that would eventually become commonplace in the latter part of the century,” he continued.
Jackson said the foundation has hired New Jersey’s best historic preservation lawyer. The foundation has
initiated a legal defense fund to help defray the costs of counsel and expert witnesses. He said the foundation put out a challenge to raise $15,000. To date, $4,400 has been raised with $2,500 coming from Beach Theatre Foundation board members.
Two weeks ago, the Beach Theatre’s neon marquee was removed from the building. It was damaged in a winter storm last year and missing letters caused the sign to read ” Beach The.”