Lucy Gets a State Historical Marker This Week, and Her Biggest Change Is Still Ahead
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
On Wednesday, October 14, at 11:30 a.m., the State of New Jersey will unveil a historical marker for Lucy the Elephant at Atlantic Avenue and Lucy Plaza. It marks her place in state history and her long role at the Jersey Shore. If you go, look across the street. The Lucy gift shop, where you buy tour tickets, is still on the corner of Atlantic and Washington avenues. It moved there as a temporary setup while the Save Lucy Committee prepares to build a new visitor center.
The marker and this weekend's Trunktoberfest close out a year of milestones. The bigger change on this block is a chain of construction projects, and each one waits on the one before it. The first is a $3.5 million building whose completion date has already moved twice. The work inside Lucy can't start until that building is about 80 percent finished.
The week has two public events, three days apart, both within a block of the elephant.
| Date | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, Oct. 14, 11:30 a.m. | State historical marker unveiling | Atlantic Avenue and Lucy Plaza, open to the public |
| Saturday, Oct. 17, 1 to 6 p.m. | Second annual Trunktoberfest | $25 admission for adults and children; under 3 free; food and drinks sold separately |
| Saturday, Oct. 17, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Fall Baking Competition drop-off | Lucy's Gift Shop, 9219 Atlantic Ave., Unit 5 |
| Saturday, Oct. 17, 4 p.m. | Baking winners announced | $100 gift card for first place, $50 for second |
Lucy's announcement lists beach hayrides, a pumpkin patch, and a biergarten for Trunktoberfest. Food comes from Manco & Manco Pizza, Betty's BBQ, and Twist. The baking competition entry form is for amateur bakers and offers two categories, Apple Baked Good and Pumpkin Baked Good. Online registration is preferred, but you can also register in person until 2 p.m. on the day of the event.
NJ 101.5 has also covered the marker unveiling. Neither the station nor Lucy's own posts have said who nominated the marker or what it will say. The ceremony itself will be the first look at the wording.
The marker is the third big moment of 2026 at Lucy. On Saturday, August 1, the Save Lucy Committee held a red, white, and blue party for three anniversaries at once. One was Lucy's 145th birthday. Another was the 50th anniversary of her designation as a National Historic Landmark. The third was America's 250th birthday. Lucy's official history dates construction to 1881 and the landmark designation to 1976.
The marker belongs to the same national anniversary. The New Jersey Historical Commission brought back the State Historical Marker Program for America's 250th. It invited municipalities, nonprofits, counties, and individuals to nominate sites. So Lucy is getting state recognition in a year when the state is actively looking for places to honor.
The building being honored has been rebuilt piece by piece for decades. In 1970 the Gertzens donated Lucy to the newly formed Save Lucy Committee. She was moved to her current site and restoration began. PhillyVoice reported that her most recent exterior project cost $2.4 million and took 15 months. It started in September 2021, was slowed when water testing found leaks, and ended with a formal unveiling on December 28, 2022. Lucy recently posted a photo from inside her head, describing her as about one million pieces of wood, some barely bigger than a toothpick. They can't say for sure whether the wood around her eyes dates to 1881 or to the restoration that began in the early 1970s.
Down Beach News reported in March 2025 that the gift shop had moved to 9219 Atlantic Avenue. Lucy's events page says the move makes room for a new Visitor Welcome & Interpretive Center. Plans include a larger gift shop, ADA-compliant restrooms, new exhibits, and space to learn about Lucy's history.
The accessibility piece is the main purpose. Many visitors can't climb the narrow stairs inside Lucy's legs, and Down Beach News described the center as a way for them to learn about her anyway. The same January 2026 report said the design was cut back to one story so the building wouldn't be bigger than Lucy. Margate pledged up to $1.5 million toward the $3.5 million cost, and the committee is raising the rest through its capital campaign.
The design has been revised before. The City Commission approved an earlier plan in January 2023. Neighbors then raised concerns, and the result was a smaller design in a different spot on the site, as Down Beach News reported that April. Shore Local reported that the current design is by SOSH Architects, with preservation guidance from Westfield Architects and Preservation Consultants.
The center's projected opening has slipped with each new report:
We couldn't find any report from this spring, summer, or fall confirming that ground has been broken. Until the committee announces a start, summer 2027 is the most recent published target. It isn't a firm date.
The center's schedule matters most because of what has to wait for it. The center is one project. A renovation of Lucy's interior is a second, separate one, with its own budget and its own funding history.
According to NJ.com, the interior work costs $800,000. It covers the interior walls and floors and upgrades to the sprinkler and air-conditioning systems. In September 2024, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker gave the nonprofit a $500,000 check for this work, but federal spending cuts later took the money back. In March 2026, the Save Lucy Committee announced that $350,000 had been restored through the National Park Service's Save America's Treasures program and the New Jersey Historic Trust. With money raised earlier and about $200,000 in new donations that came in after the cut, the project now has the full $800,000.
NJ.com reported that most donors were from the East Coast, with some from as far away as Europe and Australia. Executive Director Rich Helfant told the outlet, "Lucy is so unique. There's nothing like her on the planet."
The interior work is paid for, but it can't start yet. Helfant told NJ.com that work inside the elephant can't begin until the new visitor center is about 80 percent complete. So the interior has the money, and the center has the plans. Neither can finish until the center's construction actually begins.
Until construction starts, a visit to Lucy works much the way it has for the last year and a half:
The best time to see the interior before the planned renovation is now, on a weekday in October, while the marker is new.
Lucy is one of the first things people mention about Margate, and a state marker for her 145th year will matter to anyone who owns property a few blocks from her. If you're thinking about what a Margate home is worth, or how to describe its location to buyers, Teresa Campama can walk you through the Downbeach details that shape a property's value, starting with a free home valuation.
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