During its second meeting of the year, the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) asked each member why they serve on the board and what it means to them.
“As a way to kick off this year, I’d like us to take a moment to pause to reflect on why we are here,” Chairman John Boecker said Feb. 10. “I’d like to ask each of you, if you’re willing, to briefly say a few words regarding why you’re caring about or what you find meaningful serving on Cape May’s Historic Preservation Commission.”
Members were limited to one to two minutes, with Kevin Hammeran going first.
“Forty years ago, my wife and I made the decision that [Cape May] is where we wanted to retire, and there is a reason for that, the charm of the city. There are other places we could’ve chosen, but this is where we wanted to go,” Hammeran said. “Today, preservation matters and that’s what keeping Cape May the very city I chose to retire to.”
Many of the board members either grew up in the city, lived there for years or chose it as a retirement destination.
“I’ve been coming to Cape May since the early ’70s and I witnessed and was part of, in a peripheral way, the movement to preserve and maintain,” Janice Wilson Stridick said. “That was very exciting, and I see many positive changes because of our foresight.”
She also noted the pressure the HPC feels while maintaining the historic elements of the town.
“[I] also have seen development pressure and the cost of our success,” Wilson Stridick said. “It’s a very desirable place to live, but there is a lot of pressure to expand beyond what is practical, to replace authentic materials with more durable materials, so it’s complicated, and I feel like our character is worth preserving.”
She added that helping educate and guide the public to preserve the town’s character is essential.
“I don’t get a vote, but I do get the opportunity to support you all in the work you do and as a resident and as someone who grew up down here and went to grade school here,” solicitor Chris Gillin-Schwartz said. “Independent of the legal part of it, it’s definitely a net positive for towns that have boards like this and leads to a nice downtown and streetscape.”
After listening to those who spoke before him, Vice Chairman Jim Testa said it was easy to agree with what fellow board members had said.
“One of the attractions I find that really makes this much more worthwhile is we have a small city, and we have various attributes to our city government,” Testa said. “Clearly the HPC has served for a long time, it’s been effective and has done its job and will continue to do its job. I think my greatest satisfaction comes from attempting to perfect the job that we do, by the standards we adopt, by our rules, we have to produce the best that we can produce for this city. Excellence is my motivation for being a member of this commission.”
Tom Carroll said he enjoys serving on the HPC, after nine years on the Planning Board and serving on the New Jersey Historic Trust and New Jersey Cultural Trust boards.
“My wife and I moved to Cape May in the cold month of December 1969 and we fell in love with our town, and pretty soon I got involved with the historic American building survey,” Carroll said. “Cape May MAC made an exhibit out of several buildings around and after we used them in the Carriage House, we came to the mayor and said this would be a perfect way to let everyone in Cape May know what we looked like 55 years ago and what we’ve done.”
Carroll added that the buildings featured in the exhibit are still standing, and he believes 50% of them have been vastly improved.
“It just warms my heart how much we’re getting done here,” Carroll added.
Deputy Mayor Lorraine Baldwin, the City Council liaison to the HPC, was also in attendance.
“Being the crossover and non-voting member, I have a purpose of being here which is taking a look at trends and what’s happening if things need to change from council perspective,” Baldwin said. “Even more so, I enjoy going through and being a part of the historic standards. It comes down to educating people, so they can really appreciate what we have in this city.”
Baldwin added it’s essential for Cape May to maintain its status on the National Register of Historic Places and to do so in a way the people understand.
“When my wife and I decided to move here, and ultimately retire here, we were of course attracted by wonder and beauty of this place in terms of natural and built environment,” Boecker said. “We didn’t understand until we began to experience the amazing community of people here, without which none of that beauty would exist.”
Boecker added that continuing the HPC over 50 years of work is important for preserving it for future generations.
“I find that it’s an extraordinary opportunity to make a contribution in terms of working with this community as a set of co-creators and co-stewards in a community working on preserving that community for generations of the future,” Boecker said.
In other news, the HPC is working toward organizing an agenda and picking a date for a public alignment workshop meeting. The workshop is a way for the commission to understand what each member cares about and allow them to work together as a team as closely as possible.
By RACHEL SHUBIN/Special to the Star and Wave