New Jersey coastal city clashes over proposal to transform amusement park into luxury hotel
Officials in New Jersey sparked mixed reactions after voting to pave the way for the redevelopment of a former iconic amusement park.
Gillian's Wonderland Pier in Ocean City was a Jersey Shore landmark that entertained families for decades. David Gillian founded Gillian's Fun Deck around 1930. Roy Gillian began operating the business as Gillian’s Wonderland Pier in 1965.
The park became known for its carousel, monorail and 144-foot Giant Wheel. It closed in October 2024 after years of mounting financial pressures, including rising inflation, insurance premiums and operating costs. Disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic and Superstorm Sandy also reportedly contributed to the business’ financial woes.
"I tried my best to sustain Wonderland for as long as possible, through increasingly difficult challenges each year," Ocean City mayor and one-time Wonderland Pier owner Jay Gillian wrote in a letter posted to Facebook. "It’s been my life, my legacy and my family. But it’s no longer a viable business."
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"It’s not going to be like it was every year we come down, something is taken away," 72-year-old Pennsylvania resident KR Watkin told FOX 29 at the time.
"It’s surreal actually," said employee Andrew Boyland. "I can’t believe this is happening. I’m upset about it but at the same time the amount of people that have come here ever since we announced we are closing is amazing."
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Icona Resorts owner Eustace Mita acquired the property in 2021. After the park closed, he proposed building a 252-room hotel on the site.
In a 5-2 vote recently, Ocean City councilmembers approved rezoning the site as "in need of rehabilitation," thereby allowing the city to begin the redevelopment process.
The vote does not approve construction of the hotel itself, however. The next step in the process involves the city drafting a redevelopment plan outlining development standards before holding public hearings and seeking additional approvals.
Some residents said they are in favor of the hotel, arguing it will bring more visitors to the city that is home to roughly 11,000 year-round residents and regularly attracts more than 100,000 tourists per day during the summer.
Others expressed concern that the development would alter the boardwalk’s character.
Community advocacy group Ocean City 2050 criticized the vote in a statement, calling the council’s decision a "strategic blunder" that results in "a stronger hand for the developer, and a worse outcome for residents."
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The group announced it plans to join other groups in filing suit against the city challenging the rehabilitation designation.
"The council’s failure to meet the statutory requirements for rehabilitation, its arbitrary decision-making, its willful disregard of known financial conflicts and its breach of fiduciary duty to the citizens it serves" are reasons the group cited for the lawsuit.
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Ocean City 2050 said it supports a recent subcommittee report that called for "using traditional planning tools, not rehabilitation designation, to address this site."
The group said it would support a redevelopment plan that "enhances entertainment, respects the neighborhoods and protects our boardwalk’s iconic look and feel."