December 28, 2022
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
Margate, New Jersey's 140-year-old Lucy the Elephant underwent a 15-month restoration project that cost $2.4 million. This is file photo of Lucy, the oldest roadside attraction in America, taken prior to the repair work.
Margate's most famous 140-year-old elephant is ready for her close-up.
Lucy the Elephant, the Jersey Shore town's historic roadside attraction, will be unveiled to the public Wednesday night after 15 months of renovations. She received a new metal exterior as part of the $2.4 million restoration project, funded through a combination of donations and grants from the New Jersey Historic Trust and the National Park Service.
When the work began in September 2021, it was expected to take only nine months. But the restoration hit some stumbling blocks, including leaks revealed by a water test last month.
Lucy the Elephant has been luring people off the highway since 1881. She is the oldest roadside attraction in America, and the only remaining elephant-shaped structure in a set of three built by Philadelphia real estate developer James Lafferty. Originally named Elephant Bazaar, she was billed as "the only building in the world in that novel form," by Camden's Courier Post in 1882.
Roughly 100,000 visitors climb aboard her back each year for views of the Atlantic Ocean.
Lucy's fans saved her from demolition in the 1960s, and they've rallied around the iconic elephant once again with this latest project. Her supporters include Deanna Martin, the daughter of Rat Pack crooner Dean Martin, who hosted a benefit concert for Lucy's renovations earlier this month.
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