Wildwood Doo Wop.com

From the website: The Starlight will feature 264 suites. These suites include 2 and 3 bedrooms. Wildwood's Starlight Resort Hotel and Condominiums will feature a 200 seat restaurant, convention room, business center with high speed internet access, indoor, outdoor pool, health spa, 2 Sun Decks, and valet parking, as well as plenty of parking for the residence and guests.

Renowned for its classic Art Deco facade and prominent location on bustling Atlantic Ave., the Shore opened as a single-screen theater in the fall of 1939. Three decades later, it became a twin theater; it would eventually become part of the 'Shore 4' complex along with its next door neighbor, the Blaker Theater. For the bulk of its nearly six-decade existence, the Shore was considered the premier movie theater in the Wildwoods.

Though one might not suspect as much in looking at it today, the Ship Ahoy is regarded as one of the forerunners of the 'Doo Wop' motel-style movement in the Wildwoods. The structure debuted on the northwest corner of Ocean and Taylor back in 1939 (today the site of the Aquarius Motor Inn). It was later moved to its current location, on Washington Ave., just west of New Jersey Ave.

The Holly Court complex, which ran east to west from Ocean to Atlantic Ave. at Baker Ave. in Wildwood proper, was a series of rambling bungalows. Not a motel, in its purest sense, but still typical of the mid-century architecture and commericial lodging landscape of the Wildwoods at the onset of the "Doo Wop" era.

Today, on the former location of the HofBrau, stands the Beach Terrace Motor Inn. The HofBrau holds a special place in Wildwood and American pop culture history. It was there on April 12, 1954 that Bill Haley and the Comets first performed "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock," the smash hit that is credited by some with kick-starting the era of Rock n' Roll.

Sand Jamm moved into its new, two-story location at 2701 Boardwalk (northwest base of the old Hunt's Pier) for the 2006 season. The original store was located at 3916 Boardwalk.

One of the Wildwoods' more unique structures, the Singapore is highlighted by its centerpiece structure, which was built to resemble a "pagoda temple." Signage for the motel is provided by an interior lit sign to the south of the motel. An Asian style fence protects the pool from parking. The Singapore was renovated and inappropiately repainted prior to the 2005 season.

The Starlux opened in the Spring of 2000, but was actually a renovation of the Wingate Motel (1953). Philadephia architect Richard Stokes was commissioned by the Morey Organization to head the transformation process. From their website, "Step into the StarLux and be swept away to another era - when Doo Wop ruled and life was simpler."

Built at the height of the Tiki/Polynesian-pop craze of the early 1960s, the Tahiti served as one of the Wildwoods' best (and most detailed) examples of exotic-themed architecture. The demolition of the motel after the 2004 season was viewed as one of the most significant Doo Wop losses during the "condo boom" years.

While the Crest lost many high-profile motels during the 'condo boom' of the early 2000s, several others disappeared very quietly and with little fanfare. The diminutive Avanti, unfortunately, was one of the latter.