Competing Plan Emerges for Former Wonderland Pier Site

A kid-friendly fantasyland featuring an array of amusement rides, a theater, a band shell and other family attractions is being pitched as a possible new concept to replace the defunct Wonderland Pier instead of a luxury resort hotel.

Preservationists who want to revitalize the old Wonderland site with a modern version of the old Boardwalk amusement park presented their ideas during a 2½-hour community meeting Saturday attended by dozens of residents.

At the same time, they criticized a proposal by hotel developer Eustace Mita, who owns the former Wonderland site, to build a 250-room upscale resort costing between $135 million and $155 million.

They contended that Mita’s project would overwhelm the surrounding residential neighborhoods and would do little to stimulate business on other parts of the Boardwalk in the way Wonderland did in its nearly 60 years in business.

“It’s just too big,” Bill Merritt, president of the local preservation group Friends of OCNJ History & Culture, said of the proposed hotel. “It is a very large facility.”

Friends of OCNJ and another local group, Save Wonderland, held the community meeting to present their competing plans to the hotel proposal. They also denounced Mita’s request to have the city designate the site “in need of redevelopment,” which would allow him to bypass the usual zoning requirements to build his project.

“It’s not just about saving an old amusement park. It’s about saving the heart and soul of the island,” Helen Struckmann, a leader of Save Wonderland, said of preserving Ocean City’s family-friendly reputation.

    Bill Merritt, president of Friends of OCNJ History & Culture, criticizes Eustace Mita's hotel project as "just too big" for the surrounding neighborhoods.
  

Calling it “Wonderland Commons” or “Wonderland Square,” Merritt unveiled a rendering of the type of amusement-style attraction that preservationists believe would revive the site as a draw for children and families vacationing in Ocean City.

“It’s a concept to take the Boardwalk to another level,” he told the meeting audience at the Tabernacle Baptist Church.

Amusement rides, a band shell, a bowling alley, a playground, a children’s theater, a manmade pond with kiddie boats and a “changeable” food truck court would be among the major amenities – all wrapped together in a town square-like design.

Merritt did not give an estimated development cost. He also stressed that the project was a mere concept at this point and would require recruiting a developer to actually build it if city officials gave their formal support.

Friends of OCNJ History & Culture has been raising money to help “de-risk” the development cost of an amusement park project, Merritt said. So far, the group has raised more than $1 million, he noted.

The money would also be used to help refurbish Wonderland Pier’s two most iconic rides, the 140-foot-tall Ferris wheel and the historic carousel dating to the 1920s. Merritt estimated that the two rides would cost a total of $5 million to $6 million to refurbish.

    The landmark Ferris wheel soars above Wonderland Pier.
  

However, Mita remains the owner of the property. He invested in Wonderland Pier in 2021 to save the financially troubled amusement park from a sheriff’s auction after Mayor Jay Gillian defaulted on an $8 million mortgage.

The Gillian family had operated Wonderland for nearly 60 years. Despite Wonderland’s rich history and traditions, Jay Gillian closed the park on Oct. 13 amid its financial struggles.

Mita, owner of the ICONA brand of luxury resort hotels at the Jersey Shore, took ownership of the property and amusement rides after Wonderland shut down. Most of the rides are being sold off now, but Mita has plans to incorporate the Ferris wheel, the carousel and the old kiddie Wet Boats ride into his hotel project.

Mita publicly unveiled his plans during a packed community meeting on Nov. 25 organized by City Councilman Jody Levchuk. He largely faced intense questioning and skepticism about his project from residents at the meeting.

He is scheduled to present his hotel plans again during another public meeting this Wednesday, 5 p.m., at the Ocean City Tabernacle, 550 Wesley Ave.

According to Mita, the proposed “ICONA in Wonderland” hotel would represent the best use of the property. He has repeatedly maintained that it would help to replace the approximately 2,000 hotel and motel rooms that Ocean City has lost in the last 30 years during its evolution into more of a vacation market dominated by condos and second homes.

    Peter Voudouris, director of hotel and banquet operations at the Flanders Hotel, believes that a luxury resort would not be the right type of project now for Ocean City.
  

Peter Voudouris, director of hotel and banquet operations at the historic Flanders Hotel, said one of Ocean City’s main challenges is the rising cost of lodging for vacationers. Pointing to the difficulties of filling up rooms at hotels and motels throughout the city, Voudouris said there is currently enough lodging to serve the market.

“It’s getting a little expensive to vacation in Ocean City for what we’re offering. We’re losing our middle-class people,” he said.

Voudouris, who joined with Friends of OCNJ and Save Wonderland at the community meeting in opposition to Mita’s project, asserted that a luxury resort was not the proper fit for a town that is trying to make vacations more affordable for its core market.

“This summer, we lost one of the most iconic landmarks in Ocean City – Wonderland Pier,” Voudouris said. “We need to bring the middle class back to Ocean City.”

Another point of contention at Saturday’s meeting was Mita’s request to have City Council declare the old Wonderland property as a redevelopment zone to allow his hotel to be built on the Boardwalk. Preservationists warned of “a dangerous precedent” that, they believe, would open the floodgates for more hotel construction on the Boardwalk if Mita gets his way.

Richard Barth, the founder of Ocean City Old Home Lovers, another local preservation group, said that a redevelopment zone would override local zoning laws and wrest control of the hotel project away from the community.

Barth predicted that Ocean City could become, in effect, a mirror image of Ocean City, Maryland, and its high-rise hotels if Mita’s project sets the stage for future development.

“What will happen here in 20 years? Ocean City, Maryland,” Barth said. “This is about letting the whole Boardwalk go.”

    Hotel opponents Marie Crawford, left, and Melissa Simmons, hold signs calling for no zoning changes to make the project possible.
  

Under Ocean City’s existing zoning laws, development is limited to retail shops, restaurants and amusements in the area of the Boardwalk where Mita wants to build his hotel project.

A redevelopment zone classification, if granted by the city, would designate the former Wonderland property as a blighted area in need of revitalization, according to James Turteltaub, a New Jersey attorney who is advising the Ocean City preservation groups.

Merritt and other preservationists argued that Wonderland is nowhere near a blighted property. They believe that such a designation would be wrong.

Second Ward Councilman Keith Hartzell, who attended the meeting, is also opposed to designating the old Wonderland site for Mita’s proposed high-rise hotel.

“I was a hard no, as you can possibly be,” Hartzell said of his opposition. “I’ve been against (the project). I’m staying against it, and that’s the way it’s going to be.”

At-Large Councilman Sean Barnes and Third Ward Councilman Jody Levchuk also attended the meeting. Afterward, Barnes said in an interview that he is opposed to “any high-rise hotel development on the Boardwalk – period.”

However, Barnes added that he would review any hotel proposal on the Boardwalk “as objectively as possible” if one is presented to him.

Levchuk said he has not yet taken a stand on Mita’s hotel proposal. He stressed that he wants to gather information and listen to feedback from Ocean City’s residents and business owners about the project.

“I am remaining neutral. My job as an elected official is to listen to everybody,” he said.

    A rendering of developer Eustace Mita's proposed "ICONA in Wonderland" resort hotel.