*National Historic Landmark:
Lucy the Elephant, Margate, New Jersey

Lucy the Elephant is an American National Historic Landmark, the highest category of cultural heritage designated by the United States government. This gigantic four-story wooden Indian elephant is complete with howdah. In 1882 this architectural folly was erected by James V. Lafferty, a property developer who wanted to call attention to his latest housing project in Margate, New Jersey, right on the beach along the Atlantic Ocean. For over a century, it has been the favorite of every child and adult tourist at this popular seashore resort. 

People can’t believe their eyes when seeing this huge creature looming up in front of them as they drive along Atlantic Avenue.  P. T. Barnum would have been proud of this ingenious advertising scheme.  There may be only one other like her in the world.  She can be seen from 5-8 miles away.

Lucy has weathered over one hundred years of severe hurricanes that have leveled newer but less sturdy structures. Having first been a real estate office, then a hotel and a tavern,

Lucy is now a museum.

The restoration architect started seeking materials and methods not only to satisfy building and life safety codes and lighting for a place of assembly, but also to retain integrity of the original design and fabric of this historic property.  The usual local and state building code officials, plus a representative from the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office monitored the work.

The architect knew that, although light is essential to see or do all human endeavors, it, along with an unbalanced temperature/ humidity level, is also one of the most destructive elements for historic properties.  Introducing electric light into older buildings where it was never used originally often presents special problems.

The scope of the lighting portion of the project included the 56’ long main hall with a high curved ceiling; the spiral entrance staircases up the two back legs and the two in the middle of the body leading to the howdah; and the four display areas.

Lighting parameters were:

1.  Unobtrusive lighting hardware that would require the smallest penetration into the plaster

2. Miniaturized fittings that would not impact on the interior Victorian décor or present a hazard in
the limited space in the stairwells

3. Equipment requiring minimal maintenance

4. A vandal-proof system for crowds of inquisitive children and adults

5. High energy efficiency for economical operation that would comply with ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1 (Energy Conservation)

6. Cool lighting to keep the air conditioning load as low as possible

The lighting “wish list” was to provide ambient illumination for the main hall and four stairs, plus directional exhibit lighting.  After doing considerable research, it was decided that only glass fibre optics lighting could satisfy all of these criteria..   Glass was chosen for its durability, since in future decades, it would be very difficult to get additional funds to replace failed components.

From the beginning, there were strict budgetary considerations because funds depended upon the extent of grants given. Clearances within which to work were very limited.  Altogether, only 9 – 100 watt lamps, powering 67 tails were needed for the entire project.