August 09, 2024
Jon Tuleya/PhillyVoice
Gillian's Wonderland Pier at Sixth Street on the Ocean City boardwalk is closing at the end of this summer after a 94-year tradition.
Gillian's Wonderland Pier, the nearly century-old amusement park on the Ocean City Boardwalk, will close at the end of the summer because it's "no longer a viable business," Jay Gillian said Friday. Known for its landmark Ferris wheel viewable from much of the barrier island, the park has been operated by Gillian's family for generations and had been facing financial difficulties for years.
"The 94 years of tradition at Gillian's amusements on the Boardwalk have been cherished by so many people, none more than me," Gillian wrote on Facebook. "It's been my life, my legacy and my family. It's sad to let it go." Gillian is also the mayor of Ocean City.
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As part of the upcoming closure, 6th Street Pizza and Grill, which is attached to the Wonderland complex, also also will be going out of business. Gillian did not give exact dates for Wonderland and the pizza shop to cease operations.
"I tried my best to sustain Wonderland for as long as possible — through increasingly difficult challenges each year," he said.
Due to its financial problems, Gillian's Wonderland Pier entered a partnership in 2021 with developer Icona Resorts, which owns multiple Jersey Shore properties. Before that agreement, there had been reports that the Cape May County Sheriff had ordered Wonderland Pier to be put up for auction because it defaulted on $8 million in mortgage loans.
Gillian said Friday that his family no longer owns the real estate.
"The property itself is no longer mine, so I can't speak to its future," he said. "But I'll always have a lifetime of precious memories, and I hope you will too."
Icona Resorts proposed building a $150 million luxury hotel next to Gillian's Wonderland Pier last year, aiming to purchase the municipal land between Fifth and Sixth streets that's currently a parking lot. The city has zoning laws that prevent boardwalk hotels and high-rise projects. Gillian, in his role as mayor, said last year that he would not support the Icona Resorts project due to community opposition.
Owned by Philadelphia-based entrepreneur Eustace Mita, Icona has emerged as one of the Jersey Shore's fastest-growing hotel developers. It now has six resorts in Cape May, Diamond Beach and Avalon. The company struck out with another proposal in Ocean City to convert the Crown Bank Building — the tallest in town — into luxury apartments. That property was sold to another developer who outbid Mita and plans to instead maintain it as an office building.
Icona also has struggled to move forward with new luxury resorts proposed in Cape May, at the site of the historic Beach Theatre, and in Wildwood Crest at the former Ocean Holiday Motor Inn.
Gillian's Wonderland Pier was founded in 1929 by David Gillian, the mayor's grandfather, who started his park — then called the Fun Deck — with a Ferris wheel and a carousel at another boardwalk location. When he retired in 1957, his sons Bob and Roy took over the Fun Deck until Roy opened 10 rides at the park's current boardwalk site at Sixth Street. Over the years, the park expanded to more than 25 indoor and outdoor rides. The 144-foot-tall Giant Wheel is one of the tallest Ferris wheels on the East Coast.
With the looming closure of Wonderland Pier, the only remaining amusement park on the Ocean City boardwalk will be Playland's Castaway Cove. An electrical fire in January 2021 destroyed Castaway Cove's old building, known for its pirate ship facade, and prompted the owners to rebuild the storefront and arcade between 10th and 11th streets. The park is open for people who want to go on the rides, but the arcade still isn't expected to be ready until the fall at the earliest. Castaway Cove has been around for more than 60 years.
Gillian said he's worked at Wonderland Pier for 47 years and learned the business — including how to fix and operate the rides — from his father and grandfather. He said he plans to retire from the amusement park business.
"In a family business, you learn to become a jack-of-all-trades," Gillian said. "I worked many long hours alongside my family, and I've been blessed to have that opportunity."
