Fire at Wildwood

http://www.nbc10.com/news/5502838/detail.html

I was trying to picture which pier Hunt's is. A little quick research and BINGO. It's the Wild Wheels Pier which has Great White at the end of it. That pier has had more names than Elizabeth Taylor has had husbands.

Also I hope the family has some good insurance since this will probably cost them at least one season.

Wild Wheels pier I believe is the old Fun Pier.

Hunt's pier is between Morey's Pier and Mariner's Landing. The pier became Dinosaur beach for a few years. It has the old Golden Nugget Mine Ride sitting on it, but it hasn't operated for quite a while. The only attractions operating on their pier currently are go cart tracks.

It wasa huge fire. 9 alarms. They broke in with special report to cover this. Glad nobody was hurt.

Yikes.

-Tina

This certainly feels like the old insurance scam...Hope I'm wrong!

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dragonoffrost said:
That pier has had more names than Elizabeth Taylor has had husbands.

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ROFL! Thanks.... :)

P.S. JRS, based solely on the *words* of the hotel owners, this doesn't SOUND like one of those situations...

I know...I just find it hard to believe the hotel was "mostly empty" and that nobody got hurt/killed! It sucks to go through life so cynical! :-)

The hotel was mostly empty due to the fact that it is 30 degress and nothing is happening in Wildwood right now. Wait a few months (February - May) and the cheerleading, drumline, color guard and trade shows happen then all hotels in Wildwood are booked solid.

I forgot about the pier that has only go carts and the non operational Golden Nugget Mine. Which is the pier this is near. I only looked at a map and saw where it was located and instantly knew it was below Mariners Landing. *** Edited 12/13/2005 5:31:08 PM UTC by dragonoffrost***

It's not below Mariner's Landing, it's immediately below Morey's Pier. Hunt's Pier was once the pride of Wildwood, perhaps even the entire east coast. In the 1950s and 1960s, it was the closest you could get to Disneyland outside of California.

No surprise the hotel was practically empty, as there is no tourism industry in Wildwood between November and April. Ironically (or perhaps not-so-ironically), most Wildwood disasters happen during that time. Coincidence? Possibly.

I never stayed at the hotel but my friend used to and he told me plenty of stories of splashing water from the rooftop pool to people walking on the street below. And the loss of Sam's Pizza cannot be measured- next to Mack's, it was the most acclaimed on the Wildwood boardwalk. I wonder if they'll rebuild?

ROB-
You are oh, so correct! Sam's is (IMHO) the best pizza on the boardwalk! Very sad that this happened. I have been known to take a 200 mile detour for their pizza (and take one along home, to boot!)

I stayed in the Shore Plaza back in the late 80's. Wasn't really impressed, except by the location--right on the boards. Hopefully they'll rebuild better than before.

Ok now I know not to use mapping programs to remind myself where something is ;)

I just looked at Windows livel local and found it properly link. I won't say which site had it wrong.

I guess I need to go to Wildwood more often.... NOT! 2 days a summer is enough for me.

Aw man... as long as Sam's Pizza Palace is rebuilt... they ahve the best ice & grandest pizza. I love sams! uuuugh

Sam's is good but for me, Mack's is unbeatable. If I ever had any other reason to travel in that direction, I'd take huge pizza detours as well!

I hate to say it, but I wouldn't count on the owners of the motel rebuilding. I can't remember the last time a completely new motel was built in The Wildwoods and nowadays, motels are coming down because the owners make a ton of money selling their properties to condo developers. It seems no one has a desire to be an "innkeeper" in Wildwood anymore :(

Not suggesting their is anything myserious about this, but I do find it a little odd that most (if not all) Wildwood fires occur during the off-season when there is no one around. I'm sure there have been quite a few insurance jobs in the past.

as long as sam's returns. i liek macks but sams has better ice, now im not going to fight over pizza! but i would expect another sams to open. also, they (who the infamous "they" are) are building a new HOTEL not motel down by the convention center. It is going to have the doo-wop architechure wildwood is known for. I saw it on the news last spring, i havn't seen any pics online but the rendering i saw on the news looked pretty sweet.

There is a huge hotel tower being built by the new Convention Center and I understand a few more are being planned but I was really referring to older "Mom and Pop"-style motels that made Wildwood famous. The new tower looks interesting but I'm hoping that this isn't the next trend- I would hate to see the shoreline of Wildwood ruined by a line of towers like the ones in Atlantic City.

agreed! I love seeing the all the motels as i drive to mine, or the house i rent wtvr... & expecially the love railing that curve out... i don't know what it is about it. i don't think a few hotel toers would hurt. Also aren't the hotels planned to be a few blocks in from the beach.. i mean as opposed to AC which has the huge towers right up against the boardwalk/coast (smaller, thinner beach) so big towers wuoldn't have as much of an impact. plus if there is some nightlife (not rides) that come w/ theat hotels. nice bars or a quality nightclub. altho it is the jersy shore, that might not be a good thing. *** Edited 12/16/2005 8:53:36 PM UTC by BillisAlotymus***

The towers aren't going to be built right on the boardwalk, but that's only because there isn't enough land in between the boardwalk and the street that runs parallel to it. There is a municipal parking lot separating the boardwalk from the street, except in front of the new Convention Center where there is a large circular driveway, presumably for buses and drop-offs.

Towers are definitely the solution to the ever-decreasing number of hotel rooms in Wildwood (I have heard that many groups are hesitant to have conventions at the new Center because of the shortage of motel/hotel rooms) but I think that huge buildings- no matter how "doo wop" or art deco they look- are going to ruin the look of the island. One of the nice things is that nothing aside from the amusements litters the skyline, and the amusements are pretty unobtrusive.