By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Fans of Gillian’s Wonderland Pier will have a chance to take their last rides and say a final goodbye to the iconic Boardwalk amusement park on the same weekend that Ocean City will hold its massive Fall Block Party.
After a nearly 60-year run, Wonderland’s last day of operation will be Sunday, Oct. 13, before it closes for good, according to a recorded message on the park’s phone line.
Fall hours for Wonderland are Fridays 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Saturdays 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Sundays 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Under that schedule, 6 p.m. would be closing time on Oct. 13.
It had been a bit of a mystery exactly when Wonderland would permanently shut down after the park’s operator, Jay Gillian, who is also Ocean City’s mayor, announced in August that the landmark would close sometime after the summer tourism season.
Now, with confirmation that Oct. 13 would be the last day of operation, Wonderland will stay open long enough to make it to Ocean City’s annual Fall Block Party weekend. The block party will be held on Saturday, Oct. 12. The event traditionally attracts upwards of 50,000 visitors to town for shopping, dining and entertainment on Asbury Avenue in the downtown retail district.
Wonderland’s imminent closing has been met with a steady stream of sad and sentimental comments on social media from Wonderland fans ever since Gillian announced plans to shut down.
Some preservationists want the city to step in to try to help save Wonderland’s landmark 140-foot-tall Ferris wheel as well as its historic carousel.
A newly formed preservation group called Friends of OCNJ History & Culture has asserted that no demolition should be allowed at Wonderland while the city deliberates the future of the sprawling Boardwalk property.
Jay Gillian’s late grandfather, David Gillian, founded the family’s amusement business in Ocean City 94 years ago. His father, Roy Gillian, who died last month, started what became Wonderland Pier at Sixth Street and the Boardwalk in 1965. Jay Gillian was the third generation to own his family’s amusement business.
“Believe me, if I could do more, I would,” Gillian said of his efforts to save Wonderland.
Gillian said he “tried everything” to save Wonderland while describing the park’s financial difficulties in detail during remarks at a community forum Sept. 8 attended by nearly 200 people at Ocean City’s Tabernacle Baptist Church.
He explained that Wonderland was never able to recover financially from the combined effects of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the COVID pandemic starting in 2020 and the increase in New Jersey’s minimum wage that doubled the cost of his employee payroll.
“I tried my hardest to keep Wonderland going,” he said.
Discussion in the community has now turned to the future of the Wonderland property, including the possibility of a hotel being built by the developer who owns the site at Sixth Street and the Boardwalk. Gillian is the amusement park’s operator, not the property owner.
In January 2021, Wonderland Pier was ordered to be put up for a sheriff’s auction because Gillian defaulted on $8 million in mortgage debt. However, Gillian secured the financing needed to prevent an auction through developer Eustace Mita, owner of the Icona luxury resorts in the Cape May County beach communities of Avalon, Cape May and Diamond Beach.
Gillian said the money that Mita invested in Wonderland went toward paying off debts. He noted that Mita gave him three years in 2021 to try to turn Wonderland around. Ultimately, he couldn’t overcome Wonderland’s financial struggles, he said.
Mita has told city officials that he needs six months to study the property before coming up with a plan for the site.
Last year, well before Wonderland’s closing was announced, Mita unveiled plans to build a $150 million luxury boutique hotel on the property. His plan fizzled out when Gillian and other elected officials did not support building a hotel on the Boardwalk.
Ocean City’s zoning law currently does not allow hotel development on the part of the Boardwalk where Wonderland is located. City Council would have to amend the law for hotel development to become possible on the Boardwalk. So far, members of the governing body have indicated they would not be willing to support changing the law.
Speculation is building that Mita may look to develop a luxury hotel on the property that could involve Ocean City’s first liquor license.
Since its founding in 1879 by four Methodist ministers, Ocean City has been a “dry” town prohibiting alcohol sales. City Council would have to amend the law to allow liquor sales.
Some members of Council have strongly expressed their opposition to alcohol sales, saying they would never support issuing a liquor license.
At its meeting Thursday, Council is expected to vote on a resolution affirming its support to continue the city’s ban on alcohol sales.
“(The) current members of City Council commit to opposing any efforts or legislative actions that would allow for the manufacture, sale, possession, or consumption of alcohol upon any public place in Ocean City,” the resolution says.
