It Took a Team to Save the Wildwood “Triangle House”
Taylor Henry
This summer we saved a quirky local landmark -- an A-frame known as the Triangle House or Pizza Slice House -- from demolition by moving it to a new location. While we will miss seeing it at Park and Bennett in Wildwood, it is still in Cape May County (just 20 miles north) and will be safe among peace, quiet, and lots of trees.
Preserving the Wildwoods sprung into action when we saw that new construction was approved on the property. Our role in the save involved coordinating with the property owners, securing funding and a final destination, and cleaning out the building. It took volunteers several days to remove contents (it was very, very full of stuff, including thousands of antique glass bottles which we gave to local collectors).
SJ Hauck Construction hoists the Triangle House into its new site. Photo courtesy Taylor Henry.
Crews from SJ Hauck Construction worked at the originating location over four June days to clear the area for their trucks, cut the building in half at the second level, brace it internally with beams, lift it up on jacks, then take off the second floor with a crane. It was transported in two pieces on trailers and put back together at a horse farm in Steelmantown, Upper Township. The building will either stay in Upper Township or return to Wildwood someday.
The story was picked up by the New York Post, NBC10, NJ.com, Philadelphia Inquirer, and USA Today Network.
The A-frame is a tiny building with a big history. One of two A-frames built on the island, it is more than just an example of quirky, kitschy architecture. Everyone noticed the unusual bright red triangle across from CVS; it brought joy to many generations.
It was built in 1961 by local veteran, businessman and hobbyist Glenn Dye (August 21, 1921-February 19, 2003) as the headquarters of the many clubs in which he was involved. It also served as an eye-catching attraction to drum up business for his apartment rentals, as well as his accounting office. In addition, Dye was an automotive executive, working for decades at Burke Motors across Park Boulevard. He was once listed as a noteworthy automotive executive by Marquis Who’s Who.
Dye’s hobbies included bottle and glass collecting, coins, stamps, gardening, birdwatching, photography, writing, and ham radio. He purchased the A-frame as a kit and put it together himself, but never lived inside. He actually lived just up the block on Arctic Avenue. The A-frame served as the headquarters for the National Association of Precancel Collectors, of which Dye was Secretary/Treasurer, as well as Auntie Q’s Old Bottles and CB Radio Station KBN900 3W2750.
SJ Hauck Construction offered significantly discounted services to move the building. Ed Bixby of Steelmantown Cemetery stepped up with a plan to keep it in Cape May County. The cooperation and responsiveness of the property owners, Pam and Mark of Mark Daley Contractors, and their team at Blue Homes Real Estate also made this possible. We are incredibly grateful to the property owners for working with us, and going above and beyond with their care, generosity, and time.
We received many inquiries and proposals for the A-frame including putting it on a barge to create a floating AirBnB, using it as a she-shed, and moving it to a glamping resort on a lake. Because of the short turnaround time to get it to a new site, we had to go with whomever came up with a concrete plan the fastest and would be willing to fund the move themselves. The owners of the property wanted the move to be done right by professionals which is why we opted to work with SJ Hauck Construction.
Thank you to everyone involved for making this happen: the property owners Daley and Clark of Mark Daley Construction and William Macomber of Blue Homes Real Estate who donated the house and worked with preservationists respectively; all the volunteers who helped clean it out (especially Chris Jones, Chris Tirri, Cathy Smith, Karen Samuels, and Erin Henry); Bixby for funding the move and taking the building; SJ Hauck Construction for their incredible work prepping and moving the structure, and to all our favorite journalists for their coverage. It truly took a team to make this happen and everyone involved made this a success. We hope this success will inspire more local people to work with us to save the Wildwoods’ buildings.
Folks are welcome to donate to a GoFundMe to offset the cost of renovating the A-frame at https://gofund.me/92749513.
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