The Wetlands Institute's marsh campus on Stone Harbor Boulevard has been closed to the public since September 8. The wooden building that has stood at the entrance to the island for more than 50 years sits empty, and work on the Salt Marsh Trail behind it was scheduled to start this month.
The closure has no spring reopening date. Crews will raise the marsh first. The new building comes later, and only once the money for it is raised. The Institute has no published date for its return to Stone Harbor Boulevard.
Why the trail goes first
The reason for the order is water. The Institute says its campus floods more often and more severely as sea levels rise. That flooding limits access for school groups and visitors, kills mature trees, and floods the nesting areas used by diamondback terrapins and coastal birds. A new building on low, flooding ground would only bring the same problem back with better finishes.
So phase one is the land. According to the Institute's project FAQ, the work will:
- raise the Salt Marsh Trail by two to three feet and widen it for school groups and guided tours
- replace the boathouse with a modest structure
- restore more than five acres of drowning marsh
- create new high-marsh and transitional upland habitat built for terrapin nesting and coastal birds
- replant the trail with native species chosen to support the marsh ecosystem
The Institute describes the finished trail as a barrier to storm waves, which gives the whole campus more resilience. A $3,075,000 grant from New Jersey's RGGI Natural Climate Solutions program pays for the marsh and trail work. The project's collaborators include University of Pennsylvania researchers, the engineering firm AKRF, and the Borough of Avalon.
The schedule runs on wildlife timing. Construction is set for October 2026 through spring 2027, with the goal of finishing the raising work before sensitive wildlife return. Areas beside the trail get planted in spring. Other sections need a full season to settle before they are planted. Monitoring runs through September 2029.
The building is a target, and fundraising sets the pace
The old building cannot simply be fixed. Malcolm Wells designed it, and the Institute's own description says it was built to residential standards for short-term seasonal use. The Institute says the building has to be raised to meet current requirements, and its foundation cannot be lifted. Even a renovation that met new code would cut usable space by about 40%.
The replacement is planned as a raised, mass-timber building designed to LEED standards and meant to pay tribute to Wells's original. It would add four dedicated classrooms, three outdoor and one indoor, where the current building has none. The plans also call for an aquarium 50% larger, more than double the lab space, and full ADA accessibility.
The building's approvals are largely in place. The design is complete, the required state permits have been received, and the Middle Township Zoning Board has approved the plans. The Institute is "working toward starting this building phase in late fall of 2026," and fundraising is still underway. In its August announcement, the Institute called fundraising "an important part of this work as we continue to raise the funds needed to bring this vision to life, alongside finalizing plans for a new building before returning to our Stone Harbor Boulevard home."
The phases in order:
- September 8, 2026: public programs end on Stone Harbor Boulevard.
- October 2026: Salt Marsh Trail construction is scheduled to begin.
- November 7, 2026: public hours resume at the temporary location in Cape May Court House.
- Late fall 2026: target start for the building phase, depending on fundraising.
- Spring 2027: trail work wraps up and trailside planting begins.
- Through September 2029: monitoring of the restored marsh continues.
Scotch Bonnet and the Salt Marsh Trail are the first two phases of a three-phase plan. The building is the third.
Weekends in Cape May Court House starting November 7
In the meantime the Institute is operating inland. Starting Saturday, November 7, it opens at the New Jersey Coastal Conservation Center, 600 North Delsea Drive in Cape May Court House. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Programs there are free for members. Non-members pay $10 for ages 13 and up and $8 for ages 4 to 12. Membership still includes access to trails and gardens and discounts at the Tidepool Shop, which has moved to the new site.
The address can trip people up. The building was formerly the Cape May Bird Observatory's Center for Research and Education. NJ Audubon's Cape May Bird Observatory still operates, but from the Northwood Center at 701 East Lake Drive in Cape May Point. Anyone looking for the Institute should head to Delsea Drive.
The Seven Mile Times reported a November and December lineup of seasonal science activities, Marine Teaching and a touch tank, Creature Feature and Craft, Seashell Sunday, and special Science Features. The aquarium animals will not be on display there. They are staying at Rutgers University's Aquaculture Innovation Center, whose circulating seawater systems can hold them until they come home. The renovated center does have its own trails and native plant gardens.
The terrapins had to move before construction could start. Over the summer, staff moved nests off the property into purpose-built nest boxes, each sized for eggs from about 50 nests. Construction was timed for late fall, after most wildlife leaves the area. The terrapin adoption program continues in 2027, with release sites changing while the marsh is rebuilt.
A week later, the same work on the ocean side
Stone Harbor's ocean edge gets rebuilt during the same weeks. The borough says a $16 million federal beach replenishment is scheduled for November 14 through December 20. Norfolk Dredging Company holds the contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Crews are set to start at 122nd Street and move north to 120th, then shift to 113th Street and place sand continuously up to 100th Street.
About 540,000 cubic yards will be dredged from Hereford Inlet. The borough says joint advocacy by Stone Harbor and Avalon opened that sand source, and that federal funding covers the project with no local tax dollars. The stated goal is a beach ready for the 2027 season. So the Salt Marsh Trail is being raised on the bay side while the beach between 100th and 122nd Streets gets new sand. Both schedules are set by the coming season, with the beach due before the 2027 summer and the trail's raising work timed to wrap before wildlife return.
The 96th Street Bridge is not part of this winter's work, despite the borough's spring estimate of a fall 2026 start. At the July 14 meeting of the Cape May County Board of Commissioners, the county engineer said Coast Guard-related delays had pushed the start to September 2027. The county's minutes from July 28 also record a contract for the emergency design of bascule framing repairs, meant to lower the risk of an emergency closure.
The rest of the island's fall calendar
Three dated events fill out the weeks around the Institute's reopening:
- Saturday, October 24, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Stone Harbor's fall Clean Ocean Action Beach Sweep. Registration is linked from the borough events calendar.
- Saturday, October 31, 5 to 8 p.m.: island-wide trick-or-treating. According to the Seven Mile Times, maps are available at the 82nd Street recreation building.
- November 28 and 29: the Island Holiday Weekend downtown around 96th Street, with a market, carousel rides, a hospitality night, the tree lighting and the parade. The Cape May Current lists hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sunday.
By the holiday weekend, the Institute will have been open in Cape May Court House for three weekends. Sand should be landing between 100th and 122nd Streets, and work on the Salt Marsh Trail should be underway on Stone Harbor Boulevard.
The Institute's decision follows a familiar sequence for older, low-lying shore buildings: the old foundation can't be lifted, a code-compliant renovation shrinks the space, and building new has to be funded. That choice comes up on plenty of Stone Harbor lots. Dorothy Phillips helps owners compare renovation and rebuild options for their own property. She brings together architects, builders and designers, and starts with a clear valuation of what the home is worth today. Get a Free Home Valuation to see where your property stands before you decide.
