September 17, 2006

Step Back In Time!
Doo Wop Motels of the Wildwoods By-the-Sea

The professionally produced documentary “Doo Wop Motels of the Wildwoods” will be shown locally at 3 pm on Sunday, September 24, 2006 on NBC Channel 4. The show is being sponsored by the NJ Hot Rod Association, Jersey Cape Insurance LLC and WMGM-TV Channel 40. Dan Espy, of Espy Media Group, produced the film with Kirk Hastings, president of the Wildwood Crest Historic Society. A great deal of research was completed prior to production to create an authoritative documentary. The Espy crew worked with Kirk, Doo Wop Tour director Mary Fox, and several other supporters of the Doo Wop League’s efforts all through the summer of 2005 while filming the motels and creating the documentary.

NBC-10 recently lauded Doo Wop and neo-Doo Wop buildings and architecture as the centerpiece of a renaissance now taking place in the Wildwoods. This Espy production memorializes the history and architecture of these special buildings that have been the subject of several TV shows and articles in leading national and international publications as far away as Australia and China in the past few years. Kirk Hastings is also writing a book by the same title about these much-loved motels. The book will feature a large collection of historic and current photographs as well as the history of most of these unique buildings. Kirk’s book will be published early in 2007, and be available for purchase through most book outlets locally and nationwide at that time. The Doo Wop Motels of the Wildwoods, the largest collection of mid-century commercial architecture in America, were recently selected by the National Historic Trust as one of the eleven most important endangered historic sites in America. The resort’s Doo Wop properties received this prestigious recognition because of their importance as irreplaceable icons of America’s mid-century life style and Doo Wop architecture.

Doo Wop Motels of the Wildwoods is also available as a DVD through the Doo Wop Preservation League at www.doowopusa.org, the Greater Wildwood Chamber of Commerce on-line store at http://www.gwcoc.com, and at the Greater Wildwoods Hotel Motel Association Welcome Center at the foot of the Route 47 George Redding Bridge. The documentary has also been for sale all summer as part of the Doo Wop Tour package sponsored by the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority and the Doo Wop Preservation League. Hundreds of visitors enjoy that tour of our motels each year and many purchased the Doo Wop Motels DVD during the tour. The DVD will also be available during the Fabulous 50s weekend at the Greater Wildwoods Convention Center. Mr. Espy donates 50% of the proceeds from each sale to the Doo Wop Preservation League to support all the lobbying and public relations efforts by the League.

Every resident and visitor to the Wildwoods By-the-Sea will want to watch Doo Wop Motels of the Wildwoods on Channel 40--- Sunday, September 24, 2006 at 3 pm. Don’t miss this fascinating Wildwoods story and the opportunity to learn more about the buildings that make the Wildwoods By-the-Sea a special place for millions of past and present visitors to New Jersey’s #1 “family fun” resort.