What’s finally being done with that Middle Township amusement eyesore

There’s a long-forgotten amusement park that has been an eyesore in a small town near Wildwood for more than 20 years. An abandoned ghost town of an amusement park with buildings that have sat empty and decaying for more years than it was open.

It was called Islander Family Fun Park. It opened under that name in 1996 as a huge expansion to a much smaller amusement park, which had only a go-kart track and a few water slides. When it became Islander in ‘96, it had bumper boats and batting cages and a ton of rides, and at the time, the biggest 18-hole mini-golf course in all of South Jersey, according to NJ.com.

Hard times

It struggled. Just three years in it was sold to a new owner who started removing rides to save costs, but it never worked. NJ.com reported it was all abandoned in 2002 after just six years. For anyone in that area, it had been a bleak stretch driving by it on Route 47 for all these years. A real downer of an eyesore. 

What's new

No more. 24 years later, that property is finally slated to become something. NJ.com reports a Philadelphia developer has bought it all out and is cleaning it up to add 400 housing units.

Read More: New Jersey's Surprising Affordability For Single Homeowners

There’s red tape to get through and timelines are uncertain. But Mayor Christopher Leusner says he believes it will all come together. He told NJ.com that he believes it will all come together.