On Jersey shore, classic motels meet bulldozer

WILDWOOD CREST, N.J. -- Along the gaudy, beachfront motel strip in this Jersey shore town, the sound of bulldozers and wrecking balls has been drowning out the roar of the ocean this spring.

Until recently, this 5-mile stretch of sand was home to about 200 flamboyant, neon-drenched motels, recognized in the past decade as the largest collection of mid-20th century architecture in the United States. This 1950s time capsule, though, is fast disappearing. As demand for second-home condominiums has soared along the Jersey shore, the motels have been toppling like beach umbrellas in a hurricane.

One recent morning, Jack Morey, a Wildwood businessman and leader of efforts to save the motels, watched as the Swan Motel, known for its trademark yellow rooftop sign with a capital S in the shape of a swan's neck, was reduced to piles of rubble.

A boxy condominium building is planned for the site.

''It's amazing to watch this," said Morey. ''You drive down the strip and it makes you sick."

Since 2002, nearly 100 classic motels have been demolished or marked for demolition in the three municipalities that make up the Wildwoods -- North Wildwood, Wildwood, and Wildwood Crest. Morey estimates that 40 percent of the remaining motels will soon be gone.

For years, the Wildwoods' quirky motels, many of them surrounded by plastic palm trees, were dismissed as tacky remnants of a bygone era.

They had wacky names and exotic or futuristic themes -- Ala Kai, Casa Bahama, Eden Roc, Pink Champagne, Satellite, and Starfire. Like 1950s automobiles, Wildwoods motels avoided right angles at all cost, with jutting rooflines, kidney-shaped pools, and levitating staircases.

For decades, the mom-and-pop businesses operated in relative obscurity. They catered to working-class visitors from Philadelphia, New York, and New Jersey. The Wildwoods changed little during the time that Atlantic City caught casino fever and Victorian Cape May drew a more upscale bed-and-breakfast clientele.

Then, about 15 years ago, a renowned architect and author, the late Steve Izenour, discovered the Wildwoods. Izenour, who taught architecture at Yale and the University of Pennsylvania, declared the Wildwoods and its motels an architectural gold mine. He lectured and wrote articles about the Wildwoods, inspiring architects and academics to study the area.

National media took note. CNN, CBS, and NBC did stories celebrating the Wildwoods, as did Newsweek, the New Yorker, and Smithsonian magazine. In the summer of 2000, Governor Christie Todd Whitman came to Wildwood for a ceremonial planting of a plastic palm tree.

The attention inspired local preservationists, who campaigned to have the motels listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They also coined a name for the distinctive architecture -- doo-wop -- borrowed from the rock 'n' roll genre of the era. But before doo-wop preservation could gain momentum, it was overwhelmed by economic forces.

Baby boomers from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania wanted a piece of the shore where they had summered as children. While oceanfront real estate elsewhere was already sky high, the Wildwoods was still affordable.

Meanwhile, the motels were showing their age. The rooms were small by today's standards. Visitors' hair dryers blew out aging electrical systems. Owners, many past retirement age, faced a choice of investing millions in renovations or reaping millions in profits.

The 32-room Town and Country Motel in Wildwood Crest was sold two years ago to a condominium developer for between $2.5 million and $3 million, according to Thomas Bada, one of four siblings whose father built the motel in 1955.

Bada said he wanted to keep the business, but after his father died, his two brothers and sister insisted it be sold. ''Most of the mom-and-pop places are going to go by the wayside with the money that's being thrown around," Bada said.

That was not always the case. ''For a long time, nobody bothered with us," said Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano. ''A while ago, you could have come down here and for a million dollars bought the whole town. Now, you'd be lucky to buy a lot for that."

Because so many of the old motels are being torn down, initial plans for a historic district were scaled back and now encompass only a 1-mile stretch of Wildwood Crest.

While officials in Wildwood Crest have mostly stood by while condos replaced motels, Wildwood officials have taken a different stance. Their thrust has been to encourage new development in the doo-wop style, to mimic the authentic buildings that are fast disappearing.

In response to official requests, the Subway sandwich chain installed a futuristic, triangular sign above its store. The Wawa convenience store chain put a cartoonish neon sign above its Wildwood outlet. A new Commerce Bank will have a 35-foot-high neon sign in the shape of a boomerang.

Morey renovated his Starlux Motel with modern conveniences and a host of retro features, including lava lamps and amoeba-shaped coffee tables in rooms. Similar renovations are underway at the Caribbean and Shalimar motels.

Fixing up old motels and turning them into ''condo-tels" for short-term rentals is an option for some motel owners, according to Dan MacElrevey, president of the Greater Wildwood Hotel-Motel Association. He said preserving the 1950s flair is essential for the resort.

''Our product is fun," MacElrevey said.

Robert Preer can be reached at preer@globe.com.