OCEAN CITY — Mayor Jay Gillian assured the public that he would not be benefiting from anything that will replace Wonderland Pier amusement park, that Eustace Mita’s hotel proposal faces a long road before it could be approved, and that he hates to see how the issue is dividing Ocean City.
Gillian and his late father Roy before him operated Wonderland Pier for nearly 60 years at Sixth Street and Boardwalk before he closed the park permanently this past October, saying it was no longer a viable business.
Mita purchased the property in early 2021 in a deal that also stopped foreclosure on $8 million in loans called in on Gillian during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mita leased the property back to Gillian so he could continue running it.
Mita has proposed replacing Wonderland Pier with Icona at Wonderland, a 252-room hotel and retail complex with 375 parking spaces beneath it that would retain the amusement park’s historic carousel and Ferris wheel and add a few other rides.
Mita has been making the rounds pitching his plans to council members, business groups and in a pair of public presentations at the Ocean City Free Public Library and last week at the Ocean City Tabernacle.
He would like City Council to name the prime boardwalk parcel an area in need of redevelopment to allow for the hotel, something not currently permitted under zoning. It is now designated for amusements.
Public opinion has been sharply split over Mita’s proposal, which is just that — a proposal. The Ocean City developer behind Icona Resorts and Achristavest Fine Home Builders, Mita has not made a formal request to the city for a redevelopment zone.
Some critics assert Mita somehow has a backdoor way into the project through the mayor, even though any approvals for a redevelopment zone go through City Council.
“No one is going to get away with anything,” Gillian said at the end of last week’s Ocean City Council meeting. “No one will take advantage of us.”
“We have to constantly tell everybody this is far from over,” he said, adding there will be multiple venues to discuss the issue. “It’s not up to him,” Gillian said, referring to Mita. “Don’t think this is a done deal. He has a lot ahead of him.”
Before that, Gillian said, he wanted to “apologize for what happened at Wonderland.”
He said when he first discussed there never being a high-rise hotel at Wonderland, it was because he thought the amusement park “would last forever” but “it didn’t work out.” Even partway through the summer, with almost every ride at the park open, he was hopeful he would make it. He made the decision in mid-August to close the park in October.
He said some people have read into some things he has done at the park, such as taking down the turrets on the front of the Wonderland building and painting over the mural on the side, accusing him of attempts to make the property appear blighted, which is one way to get a redevelopment designation.
Gillian said the turrets were rotted and that he painted because of the wind-driven rain on the north side of the building that leaked inside and because looking at the mural brought painful memories.
He also suggested Mita should think again about spending so much to refurbish the century-old carousel and the Ferris wheel and instead buy new ones.
As for a financial incentive from whatever Mita does, he said, “I’m not benefiting from anything. I wish I was. If I was as smart as everyone thinks I am, I’d be a billionaire.
“I tried to do everything I could to make my father happy and to continue that amazing place there, but that’s done now and change is a hard thing.”
The mayor said there would be an “amazing” and transparent process for the community when it comes to what will take the place of the amusement park. “We all need to just take a breath, not attack and come up with B.S. reasons.”
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
