The decades-old Ferris wheel that looms over the shuttered Gillian's Wonderland Pier in Ocean City is going to be demolished, owner Eustace Mita said, and a large section of the property that housed the amusement park also is likely to be torn down in the near future. 

The attraction at 600 Boardwalk closed in 2024 and has since been the subject of a public battle over whether to construct a hotel at the site. City Council designated the property in need of rehabilitation in June, overriding local zoning restrictions to open a path for Mita's Icona Resorts to negotiate with the city on the hotel project. A lawsuit filed in August by a group of civic organizations is challenging the city's rehabilitation designation.