a jerseyshore tradition is coming to an end Gillian's Wonderland that's the iconic amusement park on the Ocean City Boardwalk is set to close after nearly a century of bringing summer family fun and countless memories for all of those who have visited the owner and mayor says the business just isn't viable anymore so gilean will close its doors in the next couple of months as Ted Goldberg reports what's next for the landmark remains uncertain with Gillian Wonderland closing down shop after nearly a century people in Ocean City are feeling nostalgic about their favorite rides going on the caterpillar what do you like about the caterpillar oh it was fast there it is the Thomas the train ride that's my that was like probably something I remember the most I remember going on the drop double shot whatever it's called the ferris wheel and it was fun the Wonderland is an Ocean City institution serving generations of tourists and locals alike since 1929 when on all the kitty rides and then fast forward when I became a parent of four kids we were up here every night we would walk up here go take the kids on the rides and then get popcorn cotton candy you see all the generations of kids that go through there um and then they bring their kids there and it's just like a right of passage for every family I've been coming here my entire life you know since I was a child and then I've been bringing my children here and now my grandchildren yeah I had my first birthday party there you remember that uh a little bit the Wonderland has had financial problems and was nearly foreclosed on 3 years ago owner Jay Gillian also the mayor of Ocean City sold the land containing the Wonderland for $10 million most of which went to pay off Mortgage Debt the new owner developer Eustace Mita hasn't said what might replace these rides Mita operates luxury hotels in other towns so people in Ocean City are speculating that this land could hold a hotel in the future that's what we talked about is oh you know oh are they going to build a highriser cuz it takes away from all of this I hope they use it for a similar thing to get families together no more you know restaurants or candy shops we have enough of those I can definitely see the benefits to there being like like not a high like a three-story hotel where it's like brings a lot of Tourism good for the economy also like I get to see views of the fireworks every day or like every holiday uh New Year 4th of July so as long as it's short enough that you can still see the fireworks yeah yeah last week mayor Gillian released a statement saying I tried my best to sustain Wonderland for as long as possible but it's no longer a viable business the property itself is no longer mine so I can't speak to its future the Wonderland will close in early October creating a rush of people trying to use or offload their tickets I have a stash of tickets and we all have tickets and we're trying to use up before the end of the summer so it's a mob scene up here and the lines are long I'll have to see if we have any tickets left over that's a good thought it's my dad's 50th birthday and um he always wanted to go on the ferris wheel we never really got a chance to go on it um but we ended up going on it last night and I'm scared of heights so it was uh it was an experience but um I powered through the ferris wheel isn't just the Park's most famous ride it's also one of ocean City's most famous sites people hope it can stick around in some shape or form the ferris wheel and Ocean City is similar to the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Big Ben in London or Billy pen in Philadelphia symbolizes the city it's iconic it's what you see when you come over the bridge it's what you associate with driving into Ocean City so I think it would be great if they could you know even just keep it if people aren't riding it just as like a landmark type of thing whatever you're going to do build around it but keep the ferris wheel Mita tried to build a hotel in Ocean City before a $150 million proposal was rejected last year for this city-owned land next to the pier but the future for Wonderland is still uncertain in Ocean City I'm Ted Goldberg NJ Spotlight news [Music]