U.S. Sen. Cory Booker presents $500,000 check to the Save Lucy Committee. Also pictured from left, Margate Mayor Michael Collins and Save Lucy Executive Director Richard Helfant.
Federal cuts by DOGE crushed the childhood dreams of a U.S. senator when it recently yanked a $500,000 Congressional Discretionary Grant from Margate’s most beloved citizen.
It was August last year that U.S. Sen. Cory Booker stood inside Lucy the Elephant and offered up the funding needed to refurbish the interior of America’s Favorite Roadside Attraction.
“Since I was a kid coming down to this incredible community, this elephant stood out in my life,” he said as he presented one of those big checks to Save Lucy Committee Executive Director Richard Helfant. “Elephants don’t forget, and neither do I forget my childhood and know how special this is.”
Mayor Michael Collins confirmed at last week's commissioners meeting that the Save Lucy Committee learned its funding was eliminated by Elon Musk’s Division of Government Efficiency.
“It’s devastating,” Helfant said about the DOGE cut to all discretionary grants approved by the Legislature last year.
“It’s 100 percent not his fault,” Helfant said of Booker. “He’s as distraught about it as we are because it wasn’t just our grant, it was every Senate appropriation that was cut.”
Helfant said although the grant was much needed to ensure Lucy the Elephant continues to serve as a mecca for tourists to visit the Atlantic City area, the cuts are even more devastating for other nonprofit organizations who rely on government funding for survival.
“We were relying on it for repairs to the elephant, they need it to stay alive,” he said.
Although the funding was cut, the effort to build a new interpretive center so those who cannot climb the narrow, steep staircase inside one of Lucy’s legs can still learn about the cultural icon and her impact on the Downbeach community, will continue, Helfant said.
“The new building will proceed as planned and the old building will be coming down in the next couple weeks,” he said.
Rendering of Interpretive Center to be built next to Lucy the Elephant.The gift shop building will be demolished by the end of April and the new building will begin construction in September. The Save Lucy Committee recently moved its gift shop operation across the street, and it will be open during tour hours.
The Board of Commissioners last week approved a resolution permitting the demolition of the gift shop with the condition that the committee is “fully responsible for the cost of said demolition and restoration of the property.”
The city has pledged up to $1.5 million to build the $3.5 million visitors center while the committee continues with its ongoing capital campaign.
At the end of 2022, Lucy completed a $2.4 million exterior sheathing project totally funded with grants and donations.
Helfant said the committee is seeking alternative financing to ensure the inside of Lucy gets an upgrade before the new construction project is completed.
“The work on the elephant must be completed before systems in the new building, such as the HVAC, are completed. They go hand-in-hand,” he said.
The committee will be meeting Tuesday with grant consultant Jim Rutala, Collins and Atlantic County representatives to find other sources of funding to get the inside of Lucy upgraded.
“We can’t delay, we must move forward,” Helfant said. “There’s money out there, we just have to be smart enough to find it.”
Helfant said the historic elephant that once beckoned investors to build homes in Margate has overcome other major obstacles over the Save Lucy Committee’s 52-year conservancy, and that the committee plans to continue being proactive in seeking outside funding.
“We won’t give up on Sen. Booker because he hasn’t given up on us,” Helfant said. “But it’s a sad state of affairs when you have a promise, a contract really, from the United States of America, and they default on it.”
