Gillian’s Wonderland Pier in Ocean City is closing

It’s the end of an era on the Ocean City boardwalk. Gillian’s Wonderland Pier, the locally renowned amusement park, is closing after 94 years — though patrons with tickets still have a few months to hop on the Giant Wheel before the space closes.

In a letter published on social media and posted on the wooden ticket booths throughout the pier, Jay Gillian, the current operator of the facility, said he was embarking on a new chapter in his life as the amusement park was “no longer a viable business.”

The note said 6th Street Pizza and Grill would also be shutting its doors. Gillian said the amusement park and 6th Street Pizza will be open through Indian summer weekend, which typically is in October.

“It’s been my life, my legacy and family,” he said. “It’s sad to let go.”

Yet sustaining the park was no longer possible through “increasingly difficult challenges.” He did not elaborate.

“I have worked with so many talented people, too many to name, and in the end, I was able to work with our kids and see our 13 grandkids take their first rides,” read Gillian’s emotional note, thanking guests past and present and reminiscing on the 47 years he’s spent working on the boardwalk.

He was not immediately available for additional comment.

Gillian, the Ocean City mayor and only the latest to take the reins of the multigeneration family-run operation, said in his note he first started working at the park when he was 13 years old. He learned to fix and operate the rides alongside his father and brothers, adding he cherished his many years working there.

Still, the amusement park had run into trouble in recent years, making headlines in 2021 when Gillian defaulted on $8 million in loans, which resulted in the park being put up for auction.

At the Wonderland Pier under windy, gray, changeable skies, families lined up as usual Friday for the iconic rides, from the caterpillar roller coaster to the giant Ferris wheel to the little fire engines with the bells for the toddlers.

Parents said they were left wistful by the news. Many had been coming since they were kids, and despaired at not being able to continue the tradition with their own young children.

”It’s devastating,” said Rachel Pileggi, of Valley Forge, who, along with her husband, Giuseppi, reminisced about childhood visits to the park as their three toddlers went from the kiddie frog ride to the water pistol game. ”Now I can’t really show my kids what I grew up with.”

Ken, Jen, and son Aaron Lucas, 7, of Chalfont, Bucks County, were outside the funhouse mirrors on Friday. It’s their third time there this week, Jen said.

Like so many, the Lucases have indelible, joyful, and very specific memories of the iconic rides at Gillian’s.

“My mother, myself and Aaron rode the Tilt-a-Whirl twice,” Jen said. “We laughed like hyenas! My husband said he always knew when we were coming around because he could hear us laughing.”

Others lamented the loss of a family-friendly space.

“It’s sad that it can’t continue,” said Stacey Harp, of Huntingdon Valley, who was at Gillian’s with her three children, 10, 9, and 7, on their annual Ocean City vacation. “They don’t have anything fun anymore, the kinds of places, the things we grew up going to.”

Businesses on the boardwalk similarly worried about the future, specifically what the next summer season would look like. Gillian said he would be ending his multiyear lease and because the property is not his, he can’t speak to its future.

“It’s definitely always sad to hear one of our traditional powerhouses is going out of business,” said Wes Kazmarck, president of the Boardwalk Merchants Association. “An amusement park is an important part of the boardwalk.”

Jody Levchuk, whose business JiLLy’sArcade has been on the boardwalk since 1976, said the modern Ocean City boardwalk has had two competing and complementary amusement parks for as long as he can remember. Already, many business owners are wondering what the loss of one could mean for foot traffic for neighbors who enjoy business from families headed to Gillian’s.

Levchuk said in many ways, the best solution for some of the nearby businesses would be for a new operator to retrofit the amusement park and build on it.

“It’s scary what next summer looks like over there because unless you did something like that, there’s just not enough time to make proper use of that property,” he said.

Last year, however, hotel developer Icona Resorts proposed a 325-room hotel next to Gillian’s. Reached by phone, Icona’s owner, Eustace Mita, said he was as surprised as anyone by the announcement, getting a call from the Gillian family 20 minutes before it went out.

Mita said some of the actual rides are owned by him and some by Gillian but he could not say if rides would be part of the future of the site, adding he and his team would take the next six months to figure out what’s next for the landmark space.

Mita, whose family has been in Ocean City for 80 years, said he was not unmindful of the attachment people have to the Pier and its iconic rides, acknowledging its landmark status and how “it deserves first-class treatment.”

Still, he noted how the Gillians had been at the helm for 94 years.

“If they can’t make it work, I don’t know who could,” said Mita. “We’re going to explore everything.”

In the meantime, he said, he’s going to get his grandkids over there like everybody else.

» READ MORE: Shore landmark Gillian’s Wonderland Pier is in foreclosure

Council member Keith Hartzell, who challenged Gillian for mayor and warned that the Pier might be replaced by hotel construction, called it “a sad day for Ocean City.” He worried that end of the boardwalk would suffer from the loss of the iconic draw.

”Ocean City hates change,” he said. “This is a devastating blow of change.”