Message from the President

1997-2007... Ten Years Later... Here We Are, But Where Are We?

The DWPL has enjoyed an exciting and successful year thanks to growing support from the entire community including residents, the resort’s tourism authority, business owners and local and state-wide elected officials and representatives. Doo Wop has brought national attention to the quirky mid-century architecture and culture of fun that define the Wildwoods By-the-Sea. Even the term Doo Wop, first used to describe the gleeful buildings, has taken on a life of its own - a symbol of the Wildwoods’ unique character and lifestyle that has become known around the country.

Demolition Has Nearly Stopped

There has been a hiatus on demolition, giving the DWPL, Doo Wop property owners, and the community at large, a new window of opportunity to work at retaining the resort’s architectural treasures and securing their role in the island’s future. The slowdown in development is largely due to a slowdown in the overbuilt condo market, as well as the decisions by more and more motel owners to continue owning and operating their Doo Wop properties so they can remain a part of the unique future envisioned for the Wildwoods.

More Activity and More Media Coverage

The exciting new Doo Wop Experience (a museum and a whole lot more) is open, the neon sign garden is being assembled, membership has increased, the Doo Wop tours are operating and popular, and the Wildwoods have become known as the Doo Wop capital of America.

Nothing has generated more TV, radio and print coverage, national and international, for the resort. The Doo Wop story has been featured across the United States and in Australia, China, and Europe, and on national TV and radio in Canada. More than two dozen magazines including Preservation Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, American Automobile Association Guidebooks, NJ Monthly, and leading newspapers in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington DC, Miami, Los Angeles and other major cities have carried the story of the Wildwoods’ Doo Wop movement. The DWPL website (www.doowopusa.org), designed and maintained by Doo Wop board member Michael D’Angelo of Vernal Media, had over 30,000 visits in June alone! The website bulletin board receives dozens of postings a day with comments about the League’s work and about the Wildwoods in general.

DVD’s and Books Tell Our Story Nationwide

The excellent Wildwoods Days DVD produced and directed by an ardent supporter of the resort and Doo Wop, Carolyn Travis of Travesty Productions, has been shown several times on PBS stations from New York to Florida and received film awards as best documentary of the year in several states.

Dan Espy’s outstanding DVD, “Doo Wop Motels of the Wildwoods”, tells the story of the resort’s architectural oddities, while every fan of the Wildwoods will also want the recently published “Doo Wop Motels: Architectural Treasures of the Wildwoods” - a book by Wildwood Crest Historic Society president and Doo Wop board member, Kirk Hastings.

In Short

Doo Wop, its lifestyle and culture of fun, and all the playful motels that go along with it, are indeed alive and well and looking to grow. We hope you will read this year’s newsletter from cover to cover and then join the League as a sponsoring member as we work to preserve the best of a unique American seaside resort - the Wildwoods-by-the-Sea - as we build for a unique future.

Dan MacElrevey is president of the Doo Wop Preservation League, principal of local property management firm “Ocean Property Management Corporation”, and an ardent supporter of Doo Wop preservation and tourism development in the Wildwoods.