After years of financial trouble and questions about viability, Gillian’s Wonderland, a Boardwalk landmark for generations, is set to close in October, owner Jay Gillian announced in a social media post Friday afternoon.
The business has operated for 94 years, started by Gillian’s grandfather, David Gillian. Jay Gillian said he has worked on the Boardwalk for 47 years. The huge Ferris wheel is one of the first things visitors see when coming over the Route 52 causeway into Ocean City, all the more so at night, when it is lit up throughout the year.
Gillian, who also is Ocean City’s mayor, said the amusement park has been cherished by many, but none more than him.
“It’s been my life, my legacy and my family. It’s sad to let go,” he said.
The business will remain in operation until October, which Gillian said will give people enough time to use their ride tickets.
Gillian said he had little choice but to close, stating the park is no longer a viable business.
Contacted on Friday, Gillian confirmed the post was from him but declined to discuss the matter further.
“The message really speaks for itself,” he said.
“The property is no longer mine, so I can’t speak to its future. But I’ll always have a lifetime of priceless memories and I hope you will, too.” Gillian wrote in the post on social media.
David Gillian died in 1993 at 102. Roy Gillian, who also served as an Ocean City mayor, and his brother Bob took over operations. Roy Gillian opened Wonderland Pier at Sixth Street in 1965, according to a posted history of the business.
But for several years, the business has struggled.
“I tried my best to sustain Wonderland for as long as possible — through increasingly difficult challenges each year,” Gillian wrote. “But it’s no longer a viable business.”
He said he will terminate a multiyear lease in the coming months, but the business will remain open through Indian Summer Weekend in October.
Eustace Mita, a developer and hotel owner, owns the property where Gillian’s Wonderland stands.
In 2021, Mita stepped in front of a sheriff’s sale for Wonderland, which was in default of $8 million in loans. The owner of Icona hotels and the Achristavest development corporation said Friday he was surprised by the decision, and that the amusement park had a lease through the end of the year.
“I found out minutes before the announcement went out,” Mita said.
In the coming months, he said, his staff will look at the site.
“We’re just going to take our time with our teams at Achristavest and Icona and evaluate what’s best for the city and what is the highest and best use for that site,” Mita said.
Mita made waves in early 2023 when he presented a proposal for a $150 million hotel for the city-owned Boardwalk property next to Wonderland. The possibility of Boardwalk hotels had been a significant issue in the mayor’s race in 2022 as Keith Hartzell, a City Council member, challenged Gillian’s reelection effort.
Gillian opposed the hotel development, which appeared to scuttle the possibility. So is that a possibility for the Wonderland site?
“That’s a good question,” Mita said Friday. But he said he would consider the options through the end of the year.
“I was hoping that things would turn around in the business and that the mayor would be able to continue to operate it,” Mita said. “It’s been a struggle for the Gillian family for the last four years. Our goal was to give them every opportunity to be successful again.”
Gillian described the closure of the amusement park and the 6th Street Pizza and Grill as a retirement, saying he was embarking on a new chapter in his life.
“I started at just age 13, bringing Walt Tucker tools to fix the rides. Being the ring boy and working with my brother John was one of my best memories,” Gillian wrote. “I learned how to fix and operate the rides, and I was taught the business by my father and brothers.”
Gillian said he was blessed to have the opportunity.
“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. So many great family memories,” he wrote.
Shared to the amusement park’s Facebook page about 2 p.m., the message quickly received thousands of shares and an outpouring of comments from former employees, visitors and families, many sharing memories of the amusement park.
“The Boardwalk will never be the same,” wrote one commenter.
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