45th Anniversary Commemorative Book November 2015 | Page 23
Watson & Henry Associates
vacant
and
vandalized,
and (currently) Bob Russell of
on eight overgrown acres)
HMR Architects.
announced plans to bulldoze
From
the
outset,
this landmark to make way for
however, MAC’s founders
tract housing. To forestall this
started programs that went far
disaster, MAC’s founders (Fred
beyond restoring the Physick
Kuhner, Bruce and Corinne
Estate. One of their major
Minnix, and Carolyn Pitts)
initiatives was to extend
took the lead in incorporating
MAC’s interpretative net
the Mid-Atlantic Center for
over the entire community.
the Arts. By the very name
In 1971, they started offering
they chose, they signaled that
guided walking tours of Cape
saving the Physick Estate was
May’s Historic District. The
but a first step to achieving a
following year, they purchased
very broad mission.
the trolley tour franchise of
Their efforts to raise the
the defunct Victorian Village
$90,000 purchase price for the
Development
Corporation
Physick Estate inadvertently
led MAC’s founders into a The Physick Estate, after 45 years of MAC’s TLC (tender loving care). (a for-profit entity started in
the mid-1960s, whose assets
pitched battle with City Hall.
also included an inventory of
Federal funding was the
Victorian furniture that was
likeliest source, but the HUD
grants written by MAC’s founders had to be funneled through placed in the empty Physick House). And in 1973, they began
the municipal government. To the shock and fury of the new major historic house tours that opened large numbers of Cape
organization, the city administration turned down the federal May’s Victorian gems to the public.
Equally important, MAC’s founders launched special
grant, citing its opposition to the loss of tax ratables.
Not to be denied, MAC’s leaders mounted a political events that served a variety of purposes. They first focused on
revolution to achieve their goals. Running on a platform of fund-raisers at the Physick Estate, starting with a Halloween
quality of life and historic preservation, Bruce Minnix led a “Haunted House” in October 1970 and a Victorian Fair on the
reform ticket to victory in the November 1972 elections. His grounds in the spring of 1971. They broke truly new ground
first actions as mayor in 1973 were to accept the HUD grant, in 1973, when they held the first Victorian Weekend over the
purchase the Physick Estate for the City of Cape May and Columbus Day holiday. As it grew in popularity, this October
immediately lease it to MAC for its restoration and operation event became a powerful magnet stretching the Cape May
tourism season beyond the traditional ten weeks of summer.
as a public cultural facility.
Minnix’s four years in office, crowned by the entire city’s They continued this trend the following year, when MAC’s first
being declared a National Historic landmark in 1976, proved Christmas Candlelight House Tour put Cape May on the path of
to be a turning point in Cape May’s history. During his tenure, becoming a major Christmas destination.
That same year (1974), MAC’s founders added a crucial
the slogan “our future is in our past” became the official policy
of city government. Although Minnix was defeated for re- marketing tool to their budding organizational structure. Filling
election in 1976, this commitment to historic preservation has a void, they launched the publication of “This Week In Cape
May” (TWICM). Supported in full by advertisers and distributed
been carried on by every successive administration.
At the same time that they were waging these political free throughout the community, TWICM has become the
battles, MAC’s founders were busy laying the organization’s “bible” for generations of Cape May visitors. TWICM’s success
foundations. Their first priority, naturally, was to restore helped propel MAC into its role as a principal marketer of Cape
the Physick Estate. They rallied an army of volunteers, May’s many attractions and happenings.
who repaired leaking roofs, sanded and painted, reglazed
ADOLESCENT PHASE (1981-87)
missing windows, cleared jungle growth from the grounds,
After a decade of spectacular growth and creativity, MAC
and carried out the myriad other labors needed to bring the
Estate back from the brink. A fierce internal debate ensued found itself at a crossroads as it entered the 1980s. Like a
over how the facility would be used, with one faction urging typical teenager, it faced some confusion as it experimented
that the main house be converted into artists’ studios and with options and experienced a variety of growing pains.
apartments and another advocatin