Preservationists and local officials are looking forward through looking at the past by collaborating on interpretive history panels along Pacific Avenue.

Preserving the Wildwoods: A Community Alliance (PTW) partnered with the City of Wildwood’s Neighborhood Preservation Program, the New Jersey Historical Commission, and the Cape May County’s Division of Cultural & Heritage to create panels that showcase the history of the Wildwoods and historic sites in windows on Pacific Avenue, focusing on vacant storefronts.

Eight panels depicting historic buildings in Wildwood’s Neighborhood Preservation Program district are displayed at the corner of Montgomery and Pacific Avenues, the heart of the district. More will be displayed in the coming weeks, including one at the Wildwood Historical Society’s George F. Boyer Museum.

All panels can be viewed for free from the sidewalk, any time of day or year. Accessibility was a key part of the project.

“Sidewalks are conduits for pedestrian movement and access,” said PTW Secretary Gail Hayman-Cohen. “They enhance connectivity and promote walking, activating streets socially and economically.”

The project is a literal iteration of the goal of historic preservation to create and preserve communities in which past and present are partners, reminding citizens of their heritage and enriching the places where they live and work, Hayman-Cohen said. 

“Vacancies and temporary vacancies through normal turnover can have a negative impact on the perception of a commercial corridor’s vitality,” Hayman-Cohen said. “Activating vacant storefronts with historic preservation window displays softens a negative response, celebrates Wildwood’s history, and makes vacant spaces a destination.”

The panels depict now-and-then photos along with written history of buildings in the NPP district, which stretches from Taylor to Oak Avenues and from New Jersey to Pacific Avenues. There are ten in total this year with plans to produce more in future years.

“This project was a group effort,” Hayman-Cohen said. “We can accomplish much more by working together, and are ever grateful to the city, county and NPP program for their support.”

Taylor Henry, author of 2018 book Wildwoods Houses Through Time, allowed PTW to use pages from her book that were enlarged to 30x40 poster displays printed on metal.  A generous property owner gave permission to use vacant windows for the display that has transformed the visual effect of the building.  

“There are hundreds of still-standing historic buildings in the Wildwoods from as far back as the 1890s-1900s, but people don’t realize it because that history hasn’t been widely shared,” Henry, who serves as vice president of PTW, said. “This project helps to fill the gap. It’s promising to see people standing on the sidewalk reading about the historic buildings downtown.”

Preserving the Wildwoods: A Community Alliance hopes to continue and expand this project.  If any property owner or business is interested in partnering with PTW to create a display for their building, contact PTW at preservingthewildwoods@gmail.com.