4 Herald/Lantern/ Dispatch 17 April '85

Virginia House to Be Restored

Zoners Okay Final Plans Some Neighbors Voice Reservations By JACK SMYTH CAPE MAY — Owners of the Virginia House, a three-story, Victorian-era hotel in the heart of the city at 25-27. Jackson St.. last week won the city Zoning Board's approval of plans to restore it to a semblance of its turn-of- the-century elegance Zoners unanimously approved both a variance and final site plans for the structure. which was closed in July, 1983. In November. 1984. the city posted the building as unsafe for human occupancy as a result of advanced dilapidation. Once restored, the hotel will have fewer (20 instead of 35), but larger double oc cupancy rooms, according to, Curtis Bashaw, in charge of financing and development for Christian Beacon Press. Inc., 756 Haddon Avenue. Collingswood. owners of the property "UPWARDS OF" Several hundreds of thousands" of dollars will be spent on renovations. Bashaw said. The facade will be restored based on the appearance of the building contained in tourist and real estate brochures of the 1903, 1910 period. The hotel was built around 1890 and formerly known as the Ebbit House "A lot of the gingergread has been stripped off, probably in the 1940s, and we're taking the exterior back to the original clapboard, said Bashaw The body of the original building will remain, but towers containing bathrooms will be demolished; the kitchen wing will be torn down and replaced with new, smaller kitchen; and the staircase will be moved from the front of the building to the rear, Bashaw said. SEVERAL NEARBY property owners expressed reservations about the project. "I would be distressed at the noisy, unsightly, constant nuisance of the exhaust fan." said Mrs Robert Goodman, of 118 Decatur St., whose back yard abuts on the rear of the hotel

The Dilapidated Virginia House Will Return to Elegance.

Mark Kulkowitz, operator of the Mad Batter restaurant, said he hoped construction would not take place during the summer tourist season "It would be a hardship on the hotel and restaurant adjacent to the Virginia which would be subject to noise," he said Kulkowitz said Jackson Street is narrow and congested, and the addition of construction vehicles would aggravate the situation and be a fire hazard. RICH SAMUELSON, of 17 Jackson St., said he was "happy that the building's be ing fixed up." But he said he was "not thrilled" at the possibility the hotel's din-

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ing room would be opened as a restaurant "It would make the present problems (on Jackson Street) much, much worse." Samuelson told the zoners. Frederick W. Schmidt, local lawyer representing Bashaw, replied that while the construction schedule is uncertain, "the tourist season is the time we all make our money. "It is also the best time for construction when the weather is very good," Schmidt said. SCHMIDT SAID problems of obstructing sidewalks, blocking traffic, and noise are all controlled by city ordinances and the police. Schmidt deflected questions about a restaurant as not being pertinent to the narrow issues affecting issuahce of a variance. "Is it your intent to run a dining room?" Mrs. Goodman asked Bashaw. "My lawyer answered that. We will follow the ordinance," replied Bashaw. "I interpret that as 'Yes,'" shot back Mrs. Goodman. "We're not trying to slip a restaurant in," said Schmidt. "I'm sorry because we don't answer the question that you think we are." CITY ZONING OFFICER Paul M An ( Page 49 Please )

Portraits If You Can 't Be Benny Hill , Be Jay Schatz

By JACK SMYTH CAPE MAY.- Jay Schatz and funny hats go together like salt and pepper. Laurel and Hardy, or Reagan and jelly beans But Schatz and hats do not. repeat, do not rhyme The pronounciation is "Shots." as in what you get at your favorite bar Schatz. 45. and his wife. Marianne, are proprietors of The Abbey, one of Cape May's successful Victorian guest houses/bed and breakfast businesses at Columbia Avenue and Gurney Street Some people who look at The Abbey think it was what inspired New Yorker cartoonist Charles Addams to create Vam pira and her family of ghouls On a dark

night you can almost picture them at an upper window of the Gothic structure pouring boiling oil on a group of Christmas carolers The same people, when they hear about Schatz' collection of weird headwear. I think he's just trying to extend the joke BUT THE REAL IMPETUS came when Marianne, who collects antiques, bought an old hat rack. "He had to fill it." she explained And fill it. he did Schatz estimates that he has 130 hats. They range from baseball caps to shakos worn by the guards at Buck ingham Palace They include silk opera hats and sealskin derbies "It started small as most wild things

JAY SCHATZ With One of His 130 Hats

A Tag In The Wind? CAPE MAY — Does the brisk sale of beach tags presage a booming summer season? Councilman Harry A. Gilbert thinks so. Gilbert said on Monday that 684 tags have been sold to date, compared with 446 for the same period last year. "Florida has had a dynamite season," said Gilbert. "And I think 1985 will break all records " Debris, Yes; Sofas, No CAPE MAY — Trucks from the city's public works department will pick up yard debris beginning next Monday, Councilman Harry A. Gilbert announced. Gilbert said debris should be bagged, or tied in bundles, and left at curbside. No large items such as furniture will be collected. New Officers CAPE MAY — Anita deSatnick was reelected president of the city's Board of Education Monday night at a reorganization meeting. Perry Collier was elected vice president replacing Robert E Janifer, Sr., whose term had expired. More Vandalism CAPE MAY — The Physick Estate, home of the Middle Atlantic Center for (Page 49 Please) Le Liquor Pour La Mer CAPE MAY — Council on Monday night approved the transfer of a liquor license to La Mer Motor Inn, Beach and Pittsburgh avenues, with restrictions on hours liquor can be served and type of entertainment. The restrictions limit the sale of liquor to no later than 2 a.m., and require that entertainment cease an hour earlier. Liquor sales are permitted until 3 a m. under state law in New Jersey. The license was approved with a proviso that music be limited to non-amplified instruments sdch as guitar, piano, or harp, and that no more than two musicians play at one time. Dora Jean Witner. a resident of 1217 NewJersey Ave suggested that the license be granted with limitations such as were imposed on an earlier license issued to the Peter Shields restaurant POLICE CHIEF Harry A. Stotz. Jr.. said he was concerned "about the music. "Will you have a band?" Stotz asked La Mer proprietor Gus Andy. "I really don't know that much about the operation, but I don't plan to have a band except once or twice for a party." replied Andy. Peter Koury, Andy's lawyer, calling the motel "a quiet, family-run operation." (Page 49 Please)

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