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City Council rejects plea to declare Beach 4 historic
CAPE MAY, NJ — The latest news regarding the Beach 4 is not good news for those working to save the theater from demolition. The City Council refused to confirm the determination of the Historic Preservation Commission that the cinema has historic character. The ball is now apparently back in the court of the Zoning Board, which will not meet again until the end of March. The fate of the sixty-one-year-old theater has been in controversy since at least 2007.
The appeal came from Clay Street resident Jeanne Powick and Congress Street resident Barbara Skinner, who want council to declare the Beach Theatre “a key contributing building,” which in historic preservation terms means it would have some protections against the wrecking ball. Powick argued that historic properties boost tourism and property values.
“An historic property is at very high risk right now,” Powick said.
There is more in the Press of Atlantic City.
Comments (1)
Of coarse this is a shame, I remember a NFP trying to run the site and they couldn’t make a go of it. While I hate to see a theatre close, Frank Theaters is the only chain that I know of that have seasonal operations – mostly because aside from very few boardwalk attractions most Jersey shore towns close-up after mid-September till May (with the exception being Atlantic City which does steady convention business all year long) – although I’m sure the theaters do excellent business during the summer.
I’ve asked this before on another thread (apologies in advance) – are there any other theaters in other parts of the country, likely resort areas that close for months at a time?