Nuns’ sprawling former Cape May beach retreat opens as science center to the public

Molly Malloy and her aunt, Mary Hildebrand, paused recently at a statue of Mary surrounded by 1,100 native flowers and plants in the courtyard of what for more than a century had been the Sisters of St. Joseph’s sprawling Shore retreat.

In past summers, Malloy and Hildebrand would drop off a relative and member of the order of Roman Catholic nuns for a week’s stay. But they had never been inside the U-shaped structure in Cape May Point with its majestic views of the Atlantic Ocean, serene chapel, and 138 bedrooms — until now.

In June, the retreat, known for decades as Saint Mary by-the-Sea, reopened as the Cape May Point Science Center. It is open for scheduled tours, giving visitors the first view inside the red-roofed building that’s long been part of local lore, but rarely seen by outsiders.

Though the center is a base for research into birds, monarch butterflies, and other animals, tourists can now walk the grounds while learning about the abundant wildlife of the region.

“It’s beautiful, just gorgeous,” said Malloy, a science teacher in Baltimore.

The science center is the brainchild of Bob Mullock, owner of the Cape May National Golf Club in Lower Township, and the Chalfonte Hotel and Dormer House Bed and Breakfast, both in Cape May. Mullock, a former Cape May Point commissioner, also helped establish the Harriet Tubman Museum of Cape May (his son Zack is mayor of neighboring Cape May).

The sisters had been contemplating razing the structure and wanted the land saved as a preserve. But Mullock wanted to save the building and its history while creating a science center focused on the region. Though the facility no longer has a religious affiliation, Mullock said he believes it has a spiritual connection through nature.

Indeed, visitors can sit in original pews in the former chapel area and watch videos of local wildlife and nature as soft music plays in the background.

» READ MORE: Philly-based nuns sell iconic Cape May Point retreat, which will become an environmental center

The nonprofit science center purchased the property for $5.5 million in March 2022. Mullock, who talks passionately about the history of the building, personally helped finance the deal.

“They were tough negotiators,” Mullock said with a laugh.

Visitors take guided tours that explain the building’s unique past as well as show the results of research.

Although the site has its roots in Catholicism, Mullock said he’s had Christians from various denominations, as well as Buddhists, stop and contemplate at the Mary statue.

“There’s a spiritual connection with this place,” Mullock said. “I think it shows God’s creations. It reminds you that when you look at each of these animals how awesome they are.”

The new science center has three full-time employees.

Separately, husband and wife Katie and Mark Bliss, who retired from their North Jersey garden design business, serve as caretakers, overseeing gardening and maintenance.

The center is up and running under direction of Sean Burcher, a physicist, who left a position at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California to take the job. Burcher grew up in the area and wanted to return. He also works for Cellular Tracking Technologies, a wildlife data collection and tracking company, which started in Pennsylvania but moved near Cape May in 2015.

Most research conducted at Cape May Point Science Center involves tracking animals, especially birds, with solar-powered devices. Visitors can view the whereabouts of the birds live, or see where they’ve been in the past.

The center started funding research before it opened and is partners with a number of local environmental nonprofits. It has a scientific advisory council comprised of representatives of the American Littoral Society, New Jersey Audubon, and other groups. Burcher said it’s only the center’s first year of studies, but it already has launched a number of research projects, on birds, monarch butterflies, horseshoe crabs, and dolphins.

“Cape May is particularly important for bird migration,” Burcher said. “It’s like a natural funnel point. So we have a lot of migration tracking projects putting cellular transmitters on birds as they pass through.”

The center is tracking a variety of species of raptors, including eagles and hawks.

On a recent tour with The Inquirer, Burcher touched a screen at the center and up popped a display for a sharp-shinned hawk named Dave. Visitors can operate the screen and see locations of animals tagged for the research in real time.

Dave is being tracked under a raptor project overseen by Trish Miller, executive director of the nonprofit Conservation Science Global that’s based in Cape May. The project was sponsored by a $25,000 donation from David and Christina Clemans. David Clemans died in 2022 and the hawk was named after him.

The interactive screen showed that Dave the hawk had been at the South Cape May Meadows preserve in the fall and as far south as Cuba. Burcher located Dave in a forest in New Brunswick, Canada, on a recent day. In all, the bird has been tracked 4,536 miles.

Saint Mary by-the-Sea has a storied history, and stands on the location of what was originally the Shoreham Hotel, built in 1889, according to an archived website sponsored by the Chestnut Hill-based Sisters of Saint Joseph. The hotel had 1,200 linear feet of porches and a 200-foot lawn that spilled onto the beach.

The hotel went bust and was sold in 1898. It became the Home for Aged and Infirm Colored People, which also failed.

In 1909, the Sisters of St. Joseph, aided by the Rev. Daniel I. McDermott, pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Philadelphia, bought the property for $9,000. The sisters added crosses to the roof. The ballroom became the chapel. The rest of the property became a retreat and vacation home for the sisters.

During World War II, retreats were halted while the sisters leased the property to the federal government for $1 a year for use as a barracks. The retreat became a key U.S. base as German U-boats (submarines) routinely patrolled the coast and fired at ships. In fact, a U-boat fired at the USS Jacob Jones DD130, a destroyer, killing 131 Americans off Cape May Point.

When the sisters returned after the war, the property was in such “shambles” that it needed a complete renovation, the website states. And, because the ocean had been scattered with mines, the sisters could not swim there until 1966.

In later years, the retreat house was threatened by beach erosion, and battered by hurricanes, tropical storms, and nor’easters. It also needed modernization. The upkeep simply became too expensive.

Mullock estimates the building costs $150,000 to $200,000 a year to operate and maintain.

As a result, the new science center needs donations, Mullock said, not only to pay the mortgage but for maintenance of the 38,000-square-foot building, many parts of which are in need of repairs and paint. Lots and lots of paint, Mullock said. Work is needed on the decking for the long porches.

The science center is too new to seek grants, Mullock said. Government agencies like to see three to five years of operations before awarding money. So the center is turning to the public.

“We’ve got a team of experts here who are capable of doing amazing work,” said Burcher, the science director. “Right now, this is our first year of operations — it’s humble beginnings.”

The Cape May Point Science Center is at 101 Lehigh Ave, Cape May Point. Scheduled tours start at $8 a person. There are no dedicated times for walk-ins, but visitors are welcome to buy tickets at the door and join the next available tour.