The New Jersey Economic Development Authority recently agreed to provide a $5.4 million award to Margate City’s 145-year-old Lucy the Elephant. The award, approved through the EDA’s Cultural Arts and Facilities Expansion (CAFE) program, will fund the museum’s interior restoration and the construction of a new visitor center as part of a five-year restoration plan.
A press release from the EDA states that funding will support interior work, including patching and refinishing water-damaged plaster, repairing moisture-damaged wood, replacing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, and improving insulation, ductwork, drains, and fire suppression systems. The grant will also fund new landscaping, lighting, fencing, and improved accessibility around the landmark and the new visitor center, known as the Lucy the Elephant Interpretive Visitor Center.
The Save Lucy Committee, a non-profit dedicated to securing public and private funds for the 19th-century landmark, is also slated to host events and artists at the new visitor center.
An EDA archive states that the agency has awarded over $1.8 million toward the historic landmark since 1992. The last award from the EDA was granted in 2022 and totaled $669,133, providing resources to complete work on the sculpture’s exterior and interior.
The EDA award comes more than a year and a half after Jersey Digs reported that federal funding for the restoration of the six-story historic landmark was in jeopardy due to proposed budget cuts from the Trump administration.
A March report in The Philadelphia Inquirer says New Jersey Senator Cory Booker secured a $350,000 grant to bridge the loss of federal funding, along with a $750,000 grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust and private donors.
While restoring Lucy the Elephant has required significant capital investments over the years, the landmark remains the last survivor of its kind. The EDA archive states that Lucy, built in 1881, is one of three elephant sculptures designed and built by engineer, inventor, and real estate investor James Lafferty. A history summary from the Save Lucy Committee says the sculpture was intended to attract prospective real estate buyers to Margate, then known as South Atlantic City, as the newly constructed railroad arrived next to Lucy.
The structure was nearly derelict by 1969, which led to the formation of the committee one year later.
Lucy the Elephant has survived coastal floods, hurricanes, fires, and even lightning strikes in its 145-year history, according to the report in the Inquirer. A report on New Jersey 101.5 says that she was even used to warn bootleggers whether it was safe to bring booze to shore during Prohibition.
