4 minute read
From the Director
As noted in previous Cape May MAC newsletters, the organization successfully secured four grants in 2021 for the Emlen Physick Estate. The news is, we’re aiming for more, but will need some help along the way.
The New Jersey Historic Trust has traditionally been the major funding source for preservation and restoration projects at all three Cape May MAC sites: the Physick Estate, the Cape May Lighthouse and the World War II Lookout Tower. Last year, the Trust funded two planning (Historic Site Management) grants. The first was to start planning for implementation of both an environmental control (HVAC) system in the 1879 Physick House Museum, as well as a fire suppression system. The other was to explore adaptive re-use of eight of the original nine outbuildings on the Estate; specifically, how the public can better access them and for Cape May MAC to better interpret their history and significance. A third Trust grant was for capital improvements, allowing the organization to address repairs and improvements that need to be done for the HVAC and fire suppression projects to begin once the planning documents were completed. The Cape May County Open Space and Farmland Preservation Program’s Historic Preservation initiative agreed to fund the remainder of the capital project, less the professional services costs.
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So, if you’ve been able to follow, that leaves Cape May MAC responsible for the match for both planning grants and a portion of the capital grant.
In 2022, Cape May MAC is applying to the Trust for the next phase of the Physick House’s HVAC and fire suppression planning, as well as a capital grant for the implementation of the fire suppression capital project, starting with the basement area. We intend to ask the county for their full allotment of up to 25 percent of a fire suppression capital project. Again, that leaves both a portion of a now-third planning grant and a capital grant that requires a match.
Cape May MAC has been truly fortunate to find great partners in the Trust, the County and other funders in the past. And it also has been blessed with an incredibly dedicated donor base. For 2022 and likely at least another year, our donor campaign will center on helping us meet our match for these worthwhile projects. It’s no one’s fault that there is not an environmental control system or fire suppression system in the Physick House Museum. As mentioned, there are two other historic sites the organization has managed. Since 1986, Cape May MAC has applied for and received almost $2.5 million for the Cape May Lighthouse restoration alone. But considering climate change and the new technology available, the organization decided the time is right to address humidity and temperature issues in the museum, home to some 6,000 works of art, as well as original Physick family and period furnishings, and to protect it from a potential fire.
Further, while the four-plus acre Physick Estate attracts almost 200,000 people per year for tours of the Physick House Museum, plus thousands additionally for its on-site events and things to do (Cape May Music Festival, Sunset Jazz concerts, at least two day-long food, drink and music-centric festivals, holiday events, the Carroll Gallery exhibits, the museum shop and more), there is a wonderful opportunity for the public to experience more of what daily life was like in Victorian times in Cape May. That includes not only the Physick family, but the paid workers who contributed to what was once a 20-plus acre property. Many of those were local Black workers. The lives of those who contributed to the Estate and the Cape Island community at-large are being commemorated in this year’s Physick House Museum theme: “Meet the Staff: The Work and Lives of Dr. Physick’s Employees. This year’s house theme will complement the annual Carroll Gallery exhibit in the Carriage House, titled, “The Victorian Toolbox: Necessities, Curiosities, Frivolities.”
Your continued generous support to make Cape May’s only Victorian House Museum and the historic Physick Estate property an even more attractive place for visitors from around the world (as well as those just around the corner) to experience a slice of true Cape May history is always appreciated. Please visit Cape May MAC (ticketapp.org), or stop by the Hill House ticket office to make your contribution to offset the much-needed grant funding.
Jody Alessandrine, Director/CEO
FiNS Sunday Social benefits Cape May MAC May 8
