Margate, a Jersey Shore resort just south of Atlantic City, is looking for a solution to its elephant problem -- a pink elephant-shaped building.

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The problem is a dispute between Margate and the Save Lucy Committee over a requested $37,000 subsidy for maintenance and insurance on the structure -- which is something of a tourist attraction. The city commission, charging that the committee is wasting money and overpaying its executive director, has refused to pony up this year.

"It's newsworthy other municipalities have school and tax problems," Commissioner John Swift, who voted against a Lucy subsidy, told the Camden Courier-Post. "Margate is the only one with an elephant problem."

Richard Helfant, executive director of the committee, said officials think the elephant is rolling in dough because the committee gets income from a gift shop and a summer-only snack bar. But he said keeping the aging historic landmark in shape is an expensive proposition.

Helfant has threatened to take Lucy on the road. But city officials view that as an idle threat since any move would have to be approved by the state -- since Lucy is a registered landmark -- and by the city because Margate owns the land and the elephant.