Elevator Being Modernized for Ocean City’s Historic City Hall  

By MADDY VITALE City Hall in Ocean City is not just another public building. It is a landmark, a historic gem that dates to 1914. In 2018 the building, which is in the Beaux-Arts Classicism style, had a facelift that included touchup work to the brick, granite and terra cotta exterior. But preserving the building’s beauty is just one aspect of keeping it up. Maintaining the inner workings of the building, specifically the elevator to the three floors, is paramount. City Council approved the hiring of Capri Construction Company Inc. at its Oct. 26 meeting to overhaul the elevator. The company was the lowest of three bidders for the “modernization of the City Hall hydraulic passenger elevator,” according to the Council resolution. Work on the elevator just began. “The repair contract is for $290,400 and the job should be complete before the end of the month,” Ocean City Public Information Officer Doug Bergen said Wednesday. "It won’t have any impact on any other part of the building.” The ornate staircase leads to the second and third floors of the historic building. City Hall also has an ornate staircase that leads to the second and third floors of the building, where there are offices. But while city employees and members of the public can take the stairs, City Council meetings and other meetings of local boards and commissions will be moved until the modernization of the elevator is complete and accessible to everyone. City Council meetings will be temporarily relocated to the Howard S. Stainton Senior Center on May 9 and the Ocean City Free Public Library's Christopher Maloney Lecture Hall on May 23. City Hall is such a distinct building that it was placed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the New Jersey Register of Historic Places. It was designed by noted early 20th Century architect Vivian B. Smith. Smith’s other local masterpieces included the Ocean City Music Pier and the historic Flanders Hotel. For more information about meeting times and locations of City Council, boards and commissions visit ocnj.us. The elevator is closed off to the public until work is completed.