MARGATE – Just weeks after getting some bad news about losing federal funding to refurbish the inside of Margate’s iconic travel destination, Lucy the Elephant is once again #1 in America’s book.
For the second year in a row, Lucy the Elephant has been named America’s Best Roadside Attraction. USA Today held an online contest to find the 10 best roadside attractions in the nation, and Lucy is on the list again this year. The list published May 15 on the news source’s website, starts at #10 and whittles its way down the list to #1.
Among this year’s top 10 include the largest ball of twine, a pencil sharpener museum, a giant statue of Paul Bunyan, the site of a Bonnie and Clyde shootout, a dinosaur garden, a drug store, a large easel with a painting on top, a dalmatian fire hydrant and a billboard depicting Jesus in a wheat field.
According to a story that appeared in the national publication May 15, Lucy has what everyone wants when traveling to vacation destinations in America – history, cultural quirkiness and a great location. In Lucy’s case, no one could beat Lucy’s beachfront view of the Atlantic Ocean.
She was originally built 143 years ago to attract investors to purchase real estate in what was then known as South Atlantic City. Over the years, the six-story tall structure served as a home for a wealthy family and a hotel. After falling on hard times, she was saved from the wrecking ball in the early 1970s and moved two blocks away to her current home at Josephine Harron Park on Decatur Avenue and the beach.
Executive Director of the Save Lucy Committee, who has worked for decades to ensure Lucy is in tip-top shape for visitors, not only during summer, but throughout the year, said he is grateful Lucy’s fans voted her #1 for the second year running.
“I am so grateful to Lucy’s fans, because Lucy’s fans are the best fans in the world,” he said Thursday afternoon.
Helfant said he couldn’t put an exact number on how much the USA Today designation increased visitors, but he knows it did have a positive impact last year because people mentioned they learned about Lucy on USA Today’s 10 Best Roadside Attractions in America.
The good news comes after the Save Lucy Committee sadly learned in February that the U.S. Division of Government Efficiency yanked a $500,000 Congressional Discretionary Grant approved through U.S. Sen. Cory Booker’s office last August to refurbish Lucy’s interior.
Helfant said the committee is aggressively seeking to reapply for the Congressional grant for the building’s interior renovation and apply for alternative funds to complete the demolition of the gift shop next to Lucy and to build a visitors’ center.
The committee, its accounting firm, grant consultant, and the City of Margate is working feverishly to obtain all the documentation and information needed to apply for funding through the NJ Economic Development Authority Cultural Arts Facilities Expansion (CAFÉ) Program. The program is designed to bolster the arts and cultural sector by providing tax credits through a competitive process. Awardees will be eligible to receive project costs from $5 million up to $75 million. Applications are due June 6, Helfant said.
“We won’t know for a while and there are no guarantees with government these days,” Helfant said.
He expects that since DOGE cut many federal grant programs, there will be a larger pool of applicants for alternative funding sources.
“We are aggressively going after CAFÉ funding and working with the city on the application,” he said.
Helfant said he is appreciative of the Board of Commissioners and Mayor Michael Collins for supporting Lucy’s restoration and the visitors center project.
The city has pledged up to $1.5 million to build the $3.5 million visitors center while the committee continues with its ongoing capital campaign. At the end of 2022, Lucy completed a $2.4 million exterior sheathing project totally funded with grants and donations. The project covered Lucy with a special resilient metal that will withstand the harshest weather the Atlantic Ocean can muster.
Plans are underway to upgrade her interior to make her just perfect for visitors who climb the stairs inside her leg to reach Lucy’s howdah, where they can look out onto the ocean and across Absecon Island for miles.
“Mayor Collins gets it,” Helfant said. “He recognizes the value of Lucy the Elephant and what an asset she is to the city.”
For more information about Lucy and her hours of operation, see www.LucyTheElephant.org.
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