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Some years before Covid — a tradition started for Villanova football that continues to this day. Utilizing the Ocean City High School Fields and facilities for training camp against the backdrop of the Jersey shore and the cool breeze and the towering ferris wheel of Gillian’s Wonderland Pier.
In my youth and not long before Labor Day in early September — were always one last chance to get down to the shore. As kids — we loved every minute. End of summer days on the beach with portable radios blasting Phillies or Eagles pre-season games marked the end of yet another successful summer season.
When we were kids, heading to Gillian’s Wonderland Pier at the end of the Boardwalk was like an end-cap of excitement and fun. As an adult — its location marked the completion of a nearly three mile long Boardwalk romp in order to keep those lungs healthy.
In 2025— after nearly one hundred years of family operation — Gillian’s Wonderland Pier finally shuddered its doors. It had been run by the (Gillian) Family since 1929. The reality of modern life is that a continued operation of the rides at Gillian’s Pier is simply unsustainable.
In August (during an Ocean City Counsel vote) a development plan to close the Wonderland Pier into a resort and hotel was voted down. The decision almost guarantees that the property will be sold.
It’s impossible to say whether or not Gillian’s Wonderland Pier would be better off or not as a modern resort. What is certain as it’s closed facade looms large over the Labor Day beaches of Ocean City — reminding us of nearly half a century of fun — the kind that may never return to this location.
What is certain is that the tradition of the beginning work of a grueling college football season against the backdrop of leisure has continued yet again — with a defunct ferris wheel in the distance.
The post In the Shadow of a Dying Wonderland. appeared first on Philadelphia Sports Nation.
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Michael Thomas Leibrandt
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