We Love Lucy, the Elephant!

Lucy the Elephant. So many people know what that is and yet so many people have no clue. As someone who give tours of Lucy, I know this first hand, because I hear it every time I work from the tourists who come visit her. Many of them bring their grandchildren, and tell me stories of their first visit 30, 40 , 50 years ago and then I get those who stumbled upon her, either through a Google search of what to do in the area or simply driving by and seeing a big elephant butt standing along the roadside. I grew up on the island, in Atlantic City, so Lucy has been a part of my life long before I worked for her. Truth be told, although I used to party in the neighborhood around Lucy, home to iconic bars as Maloney's and Reds, and would wave hello to her whenever I was there, but I hadn't ever gone in her until a few years ago. I hear all the stories, people who knew the Gertzen family, who owned Lucy until the 60's, those who helped raise money to move and restore the big elephant in the 70's, I even get to hear the whispered stories of those who broke into her when she was shut down, slightly embarrassed about their naughty past. But everyone who knows of Lucy really, really loves her. She's iconic, obviously, as any 6 story elephant would be. Margate wouldn't be Margate without her, both literally and figuratively. Literally, because she's the reason the city exists. At the time, that area was still considered South Atlantic City so her presence created the town around her. Figuratively, because recent news reports have stated the city that she created is considering moving her out, to Atlantic City. And that news has created quite the firestorm both here on the island and the surrounding area. To those of us here, Lucy is to Margate like the Eiffel Tower is to Paris, and the Statue of Liberty is to New York. And before you say I'm conflating Lucy's stature, remember that she was here before both of those other tourist attractions. Actually, she's the oldest roadside attraction in the United States. Moving Lucy would be a mistake, for both Margate and Atlantic City. The sleepy-town nature of Margate, all hustle bustle during the summer months but slow and steady during the off-season are a perfect fit for a structure that has been standing there for 137 years. To move to the big city, so to speak, would make for a strange fit. For a building from the Victorian age and zoomorphic, standing in the midst of the glitzy lights of the casinos and Boardwalk shops would be both out of place and out of time, since Atlantic City has a penchant for tearing down its past to find its future. Lucy is more than just a building to those of us who know her. She's our mascot, our touchstone, our love. We all have Lucy stories to tell, and that says a lot for an elephant that never says a word. As a matter of fact, when we go to open Lucy for the day, we always say "I'm going to wake Lucy up.'' To those of us who work there, she's more than a job. And to those who love Lucy, she's more than a plot of land to build another block of condos.
Keep Lucy in Margate. It's where she belongs.