Café plan accidentally unveiled

Last Updated on Wednesday, March 13, 2013 08:25 pm Written by Christie Rotondo Wednesday, March 13, 2013 04:26 pm

This photo of a painted shipping container appeared on the BID’s Facebook page, with a caption that said it was the future site of Café4B at artBOX on Morey’s Piers. WILDWOOD- A possible new addition to the boardwalk leaked onto Facebook last week, but officials are keeping hush-hush about the project’s details.

A photo showed an artist’s rendering of bright-colored shipping containers arranged to be a café and artist community on the boardwalk, called “artBOX.”

That photo has since been removed. Another photo, of simply an orange shipping container, still remains on the Boardwalk Improvement District’s Facebook page. Its caption reads: “The Boardwalk's newest restaurant! Cafe 4B at artBOX!”

Pat Rosenello, executive director of the BID, said he couldn’t comment on the attraction’s details yet. He said that it was a Morey’s Piers project, but that he was involved in the “food aspect.”

“I can’t comment on it from BID or SID perceptive, but it is a new concept coming to the boardwalk,” Rosenello said last week.

Rosenello admitted that he had first posted the picture on his personal Facebook page. Then, an operator of the BID’s page, “Wildwood by the Sea” shared it- creating an “accidental unveiling.” Numerous comments asking what the attraction was, when it would be opened, and if there was more information, flooded the comments under the photo.

Maggie Warner, spokeswoman for Morey’s Piers, said that the “artBOX” leaked onto Facebook accidentally, and that she couldn’t release any further details.

“We’re still finalizing things,” Warner said. “We want to make sure we get all the pieces together.”

This isn’t the first time Morey’s Piers have used their shipping containers as an attraction. Last July, the organization commissioned local graffiti artist David Macomber to spruce up the containers with beach themed, inspirational graffiti.

“With today’s overabundance of imports, containers have become a low cost method for the eco and arts communities to create shelter,” a release about Macomber’s project states. “At Morey's Piers the containers will serve a variety of practical and aesthetic purposes.”

Warner said that a release about artBOX has not yet been given to the media, but said she expected the project to be announced in the upcoming weeks.

The use of shipping containers as a base for buildings is a growing trend, with steel shipping containers being used as hotels, apartments and restaurants.

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