The owner of a North Wildwood motel says that she has made the tough decision not to open this summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kathy Crane owns the Sandpiper Motel located at the corner of 16th Street and Ocean Avenue.

“I get very emotional. This was a really hard decision. I feel as though I’ve let my community down in a way by making our announcement when we did,” she says.

Crane says that she and her family made the decision in the hopes of keeping the family, staff and guests safe from the virus. She made the announcement this week to give guests time to book rooms elsewhere.

“We’re very fortunate. My heart goes out to the owners who may not be able to make these decisions because they may lose their business,” Crane says. “Don’t get me wrong, this is going to hurt. I still have to dip into my savings to make up for lost money this summer. But I’m very thankful that we can do that.”

Just down the block from the Sandpiper is the Matador Oceanfront Resort – one of the businesses that is hoping that it will be able to open this summer. This Friday would have been the hotel’s first weekend of the season.

“We’ve been around for 50 years. This is the first time we’ve ever missed an opening weekend,” says owner Robert DelMonte. “We have a short season to make money and we’re going to be hurting if we’re not open for the summer. Families depend on these – it’s how we make our living.”

DelMonte says that the hotel is putting new cleaning and staff protocols into place to protect against the virus as it hopes to be open by Memorial Day.

“All my friends and other colleagues in the industry – we’re ready to be open. We want to be open and will be there. We’ll be ready to go once we get a date,” he says.

The boardwalk in North Wildwood is currently closed. But beaches are open for walking, jogging, surfing, fishing and other activities that allow for social distancing.