Two iconic Jersey Shore landmarks are facing very different futures. The 144-foot Ferris wheel at Ocean City‘s shuttered Wonderland Pier appears headed for demolition, while Lucy the Elephant in Margate is getting a nearly $5.5 million boost for a long-planned restoration project. Despite previ ous hopes of preserving the Ferris wheel, the developer who now owns the Wonderland Pier property said last month that the deteriorating attraction needs to be torn down. The outlook remained bleak at the most recent Ocean City Council meeting, where the possibility of the city taking ownership of the Ferris wheel was discussed. “It can’t be saved,” a speaker said during the meeting. For Don and Bo Sobeck of Somers Point, the uncertainty has made the Ferris wheel a focal point of their daily walks along the Ocean City Boardwalk. “We’ve been taking a picture in front of it every single day, because we never know when it’s going to not be there,” Don Sobeck said. The towering attraction has long been a familiar sight for people arriving in Ocean City. “It’s just a wonderful thing to look at. and it is sad that it’s deteriorating and that it won’t be something that you see when you come right onto the island,” Ocean City resident Arles Dupont said. Lucy the Elephant gets nearly $5.5 million boost for restoration Just up the coast in Margate, there’s renewed optimism about the future of another beloved Jersey Shore landmark. A nearly $5.5 million state tax credit for Lucy the Elephant will clear the way for a long-planned project to restore the attraction’s interior and build an ADA-compliant visitors center. “This was the shot in the arm that we needed to complete this project. That’s actually been the works since 2003,” said Richard Helfant, executive director of Lucy the Elephant. The project also includes a major makeover of the park surrounding Lucy, with new landscaping and walkways. Plans call for recreating a section of Margate’s boardwalk that was lost to storms in 1944 and 1962. “And that will be the grand entrance into the new building,” Helfant said. What’s next for Ocean City’s Wonderland Pier? Back in Ocean City, councilmembers are working on guidelines for a draft redevelopment plan for the Wonderland Pier property. Officials say the public will have a say in those guidelines, which will address a possible hotel, family entertainment and a potential path to preserving the historic carousel that remains inside the building. Ocean City Councilman Keith Hartzell said decisions about the carousel’s future should be left open for negotiation. “I think it’s very, very important that we leave that up to negotiation, right? who’s going to be responsible for refurbishing, how’s it going to get refurbished, if it gets refurbished, where’s it going to be,” Hartzell said. While the carousel could still have a future at the property, the outlook for the Ferris wheel appears far less promising. For the Sobecks, every new selfie in front of the landmark is another memory to hold onto as its future remains uncertain. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC Philadelphia. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC Philadelphia journalist edited the article for publication. ...read more read less