In this short video, Rebeca Nesselrode, Travelling , spoke to Richard Helfant, Executive Director / CEO of Lucy The Elephant.
Lucy the Elephant was built by real estate developer James Lafferty in 1881 as a gimmick to attract potential buyers to his land holdings along the coast of South Atlantic City (now Margate). Eventually, a popular hotel business was built around Lucy. Presidents and royalty came from around the world to stay at the neighbouring Elephant Hotel and climb the stairs to Lucy’s howdah.
During her history, Lucy has survived hurricanes, ocean floods, and even a fire accidentally started by some inebriated party-goers when she served in a tavern. However, by the 1960s, it became apparent that there was one disaster that Lucy could not overcome: neglect. By then, the once proud jewel of the South Jersey coast had become an almost hopeless, wretched wreck. Then, in 1970, a developer purchased Lucy’s land and intended to build a condominium building on the site. The beach and the ocean could stay, but the Elephant had to go. To the rescue came the Save Lucy Committee. Within weeks, this small concerned group of ordinary citizens had raised enough money to move the entire decaying structure two blocks away to a new city-owned site.
Thirty years and over 1.5 million dollars later, Lucy was completely restored to her original splendour, inside and out. In 1976, Lucy was designated a National Historic Landmark by the United States government as the oldest surviving example of a unique form of “zoomorphic” architecture and the oldest “roadside” attraction in America. Today, she is the most popular non-gaming attraction in the greater Atlantic City region. She has brought fame to Margate City and is known all over the globe as “The World’s Largest Elephant.”
Lucy The Elephant www.lucytheelephant.org
Atlantic City, NJ www.atlanticcitynj.com
