In Ocean City, uncertainty, recrimination, and a new idea for Wonderland Pier after a summer without rides

OCEAN CITY, N.J. — Bagels, pizza, and an arcade.

By summer’s end, that was all Eustace Mita was able to accomplish at 600 Boardwalk, the hallowed site of the defunct Gillian’s Wonderland Pier, before the developer threw his hands up.

After a summer without rides, the site now faces a future without a hotel — at least without the seven-story resort with a veranda and a carousel that Mita wanted to rebrand as Icona in Wonderland.

But wait: Now another investor group says it will make an offer to Mita this week to buy the property for an amusement-entertainment-residential idea it’s calling “Wonderland Commons.”

Mita’s journey took him down a rabbit hole of uniquely Ocean City opposition, and his $150 million plans skidded to a halt in City Council on Aug. 21 like that final squeaky lurch of the rusty Ferris wheel a year earlier. He declared the property for sale for $25 million.

On Saturday, a beautifully crisp kickoff to the final holiday weekend of summer, cheers from Ocean City’s football stadium provided a very non-summer soundtrack over the boardwalk.

Ocean City’s culture and tradition were on the minds of visitors as they walked in and around the old Wonderland site, marking one last hurrah after a summer described by some business owners in the dry town as “good, not great.”

There was a mix of emotions about the continuing saga of Wonderland Pier.

Jhan’marco Guichardo, 8, of Gloucester City, sat on a bench with his brother-in-law Chris Sanchez, 27, and said so many ideas were occurring to him.

“I saw the trains, like they have the trains that were up top,” he said, referring to the old ride that took people around the pier.

“They could do a themed roller coaster. Ideas just pop into my head. Maybe squeeze in a pool. What if they themed it into something else? They could shape it into games, like the shoot the pixels from Wreck-It Ralph.”

With Mita seemingly out of the way, Jhan’marco wasn’t the only one with a big idea for the site.

Bill Merritt, the founder of Ocean City 2050, said in an interview Saturday that the investor group — of which he is part — envisioned a mixed-use “Wonderland Commons.” But he said its offer would be for less than $25 million. (Mita did not respond to a message left for him Saturday.)

Merritt has been a driving force of the “Big Mistake” opposition that contributed to the City Council vote that scuttled Mita’s hotel plans. The council resoundingly rejected a request to designate the site as being in need of rehabilitation.

“The city made a very thoughtful decision,” Merritt said. “We know there were other parcels on the boardwalk that would go the same way.”

His group plans a low-rise residential portion, possibly a “condotel,” along the street that borders the back of Wonderland, a central amusement park area that would continue the Wonderland tradition, and other digital entertainment incorporating augmented and virtual reality technology.

“We would be against anything with height,” he said. “We’re going to put together an offer. Financially, we’re in good shape to do that. Our goal is to build something there that respects the culture and values of the city.”

Chris Sanchez said the town seemed less crowded than in prior years. He said he would be wary of developers coming in and changing a town in ways that upset the locals: He had seen that happen around Temple University. “I feel like it could displace people,” he said.

George Gross, in town with his wife, Lori, and two children, Ryan, 18 and Michael, 13, said he would prefer something similar to Gillian’s. “The boardwalk should be a boardwalk and not an entry to a hotel,” he said.

“I would prefer if it’s family-oriented,” Lori Gross said.

Discussions before and following the 6-1 vote in City Council had turned heated, prompting Mayor Jay Gillian, the previous owner of the site, to rebuke his critics. In Facebook groups, some predicted the vote and the “anti-hotel” movement would not age well.

But on the boardwalk on Saturday, there was little sentiment for a hotel, or for change at all.

“They need to bring it back and keep it like it was,” said David Reinert, 72, of Northeast Philly, walking his 3-year-old grandson past a place that held generations of memories. His family was staying in the same place they had stayed in for 20 years.

“I don’t think they should ever get rid of it,” he said. “I think we still have tickets.”

Inside the building that used to house the iconic kiddie rides, Mita had installed an arcade to keep the area at least somewhat animated, he had said. John Lehman, 46, of Washington, walked around the quiet space, noting the gated-off carousel and shuttered train and submarine rides.

“It’s a bit of a cemetery,” he said. “Better than rusting on the side of the road.”

He recalled the memories his kids had of the rides, and also a bit of the shared trauma: His 10-year-old still talks about being taken on the dark ride as a 4-year-old, he said.

“They miss the rides,” he said. “We knew last year it was the last hurrah. Having a massive hotel would have changed the boardwalk.”

Council member Keith Hartzell said the council was wary of setting a precedent by advancing the big hotel idea. Some noted that former Sixers owner Pat Croce was at the meeting and spoke in favor of the project, and they wondered if he, too, had development ideas.

“Nobody believed this was a one-off,” Hartzell said. “Everywhere I go, people stop me and thank me. Church, Ready Coffee. Ocean City doesn’t like change. People are picking on us for it. We voted down BYOB, and we’re doing just fine. We don’t like alcohol and we don’t like height.”

Still, Hartzell acknowledged that at Diorio’s in Somers Point (which does have alcohol), a bartender was screaming at him, “I heard you wouldn’t look at his new plan!”

But he was confident a new plan would emerge. “In Ocean City, there’s plenty of people who have $20 million laying around the mattress.”

He said he wouldn’t attribute the good-not-great summer to any one thing, like tariffs or the absence of Wonderland.

“The haves come down,” he said. “But it’s harder and harder for any middle-income-class family to come down. It’s not a banner season.”

A few blocks from the boardwalk, a business owner who did not want to be identified for fear of being drawn into the acrimonious debate said she really didn’t see what the problem was with the hotel idea.

Without Wonderland, she said, people mostly parked in the center of town, leading to less traffic for businesses at the North End.

The Chamber of Commerce and Boardwalk Merchants Association both endorsed “Icona in Wonderland.”

“It’s like fighting a losing battle, like fighting Comcast,” the business owner said. “I don’t know what the issue was. Whatever it becomes, I hope it makes this town happy.”