Lucy the Elephant will have official unveiling ceremony Wednesday
MARGATE, N.J. (CBS) -- An official unveiling ceremony will be held Wednesday evening for Lucy the Elephant following a 15-month, $2.4 million renovation to revitalize and replace Lucy's exterior skin.
Lucy the Elephant's executive director Rich Helfant said the wood structure underneath Lucy's metal skin was revitalized, and Lucy's metal skin was replaced with a new metal that's expected not to rust.
"It's been a very, very long and stressful 15 months to get this project completed," Helfant said.
He said the project was filled with as many twists and turns as the curves on Lucy's body, which caused the project's timeline and cost to increase.
"We found a lot more rotted wood than we had anticipated," Helfant said. "We had a sprinkler pipe break, caused flooding inside the elephant and supply chain issues."
Laura Kakalecz and Mikhala Heil followed Lucy's renovation journey online and decided to drive down from Boston to visit Lucy for the first time.
"I did a project about Lucy when I was in third grade," Kakalecz said. "It's been about 20 years in the making to come on this trip and see Lucy."
Starting in September, work will begin on renovating Lucy's interior and rebuilding the gift shop.
Lucy's official unveiling ceremony will be held Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Parking will be limited as the section of Atlantic Avenue in front of Lucy will be shut down.
