Gillian's Wonderland Pier prepares for one last weekend as the landmark gets ready to close
OCEAN CITY, N.J. - Gillian’s Wonderland Pier, where generations of families have spent their summer vacations, is closing for good on Sunday, after 94 years.
"It’s not going to be like it was every year we come down, something is taken away," said KR Watkin, of Huntington County, Pennsylvania. The 72-year-old says he remembers Wonderland Pier as a toddler. Now he took the 3-hour drive to take one last ride on the carousel with his wife.
Friday afternoon, workers at Wonderland Pier were making final preparations before the landmark goes dark. The pier's owner and Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian announced, back in August. Economic conditions forced the family to sell the property to a hotel developer.
Rob Taborelli has been coming here since he was a kid. The family came down to Ocean City this weekend to make sure his children got a chance to experience what he did before it’s gone.
"It’s synonymous with pizza and the boardwalk, right? it’s what every family does when they come down here," said Taraborelli.
Gillian's Wonderland Pier to close after nearly a century of family-filled happiness in Ocean City
Gillian’s Wonderland Pier is closing after nearly a century in business and the news is coming as a shock to those who made it a tradition to visit in Ocean City.
Strangers Jim Smith and Genoria Gerald spent some time on a boardwalk bench chatting, laughing and reminiscing about the generations of family memories, thanks to Gillian’s.
"This was the gateway. It was the gateway to Ocean City," said Smith, from Northeast Philadelphia.
Closing weekend is bittersweet for Gillian's employee Andrew Boylan, who arrived to work early to snap a few pictures for historical sake.
"It’s surreal actually. 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," said Boylan, a mechanic who started as a ride operator 13 years ago.
"To put a closure to our memories to this place. I said, ‘Next year when we come down it will be sad when it’s probably gone.’ I don’t know what’s going to happen to it."
For the final three days, families will get in that last ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl, log flume and carousel. Soon the rides may be gone, but those memories will last forever.
"I wish they didn’t have to get rid of it. I wish it would be here for my great, great great, great grandkids," joked Gerald, an Ocean City resident.
The new owner, Icona Resorts, which has properties in Cape May and Avalon, has said it will decide plans for the historic site and all of the rides by the end of the year.
Gillian's is open through the weekend and will officially close at 6 p.m. on Sunday.