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Sea Isle City visitors buckle up for a wild summer at Funland
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VIDEO: Gillian's Funland Opens
SEA ISLE CITY - As Jay Gillian cut the ribbon to his newest amusement park Tuesday afternoon, the sun shone on the dozen rainbow-colored children's rides for which Gillian and city officials have high hopes.
The seaside city, which lost its only amusement park nine years ago, wants to appeal to family vacationers to stay in the city after a day at the beach.
Gillian wants to draw a customer base to the new Gillian's Funland of Sea Isle City that made his family's Gillian's Wonderland Pier a staple in Ocean City.
Despite the economic downturn, Gillian said he believes people will spend money on their children. He reached an agreement with the city in February to lease a city-owned downtown lot alongside a public waterfront on 42nd Place.
The park opened over the weekend and held a grand opening Tuesday.
"It's awesome," said Kimberly Styer, of Longport, who took her three daughters - Lee, 15, Noel, 13, and Ryann, 9 - on the rides Tuesday.
The amusement park - with its Ferris wheel and carousel - is now the most prominent landmark in downtown Sea Isle City apart from the water tower.
"As Gillian's goes, the rest of us in Sea Isle City are going to go," Mayor Leonard Desiderio said Tuesday.
The city will get 10 percent of the park's revenues under the agreement, although city officials talk more about the park's draw of tourists than about the revenue.
Sea Isle City Councilman Michael McHale said the city did not want to lose its visitors during evenings to neighboring towns with amusement parks - namely the Wildwoods and Ocean City.
Desiderio said the amusement park will help bolster the city's image as a family-friendly resort.
It is an image the city, also well known for its parties and nightlife, has struggled with in the past.
"There's days we take a step forward and days we take a step backward," Desiderio said. "This is a day we take two steps forward."
The amusement park is the only new one to open in New Jersey this year, and city officials said it is the only new one to open in the country this year.
The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions could not confirm that Tuesday, but a spokesman said the opening of a new amusement park is generally rare.
"The opening of a new park is a big deal anywhere in the country, whether it's a large regional park or more of a local park," spokesman David Mandt said. "It's always big news."
New Jersey lost some of its amusement parks over the past decade as the properties were sold for real estate due to the housing boom, said Kimberle Rolle Samarelli, executive director of the New Jersey Amusement Association.
Fun City, an amusement park that was a staple in Sea Isle City for more than 30 years, closed in 2000 and was sold to developers after the owners could not find a buyer for the park - just the land, Desiderio said.
Opening a new amusement park is an intensive process due to state regulations that are among the strictest in the country, Samarelli said.
"It's a very gigantic accomplishment," she said. "It's no small feat to open an amusement park."
New Jersey has about a dozen amusement parks, most of which are in coastal communities, she said.
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Posted in Cape_may on Wednesday, July 1, 2009 3:10 am Updated: 6:32 am.
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