Wild West City's Future Uncertain After Conflicting Messages

BYRAM, NJ — The future of the Wild West City theme park appears to be unclear after the company issued, then deleted, a statement that the park had closed.

A statement previously posted on the company's website announced the closure and directed all questions to Michael Stabile III, the executor of the estate of the late owner, Michael Stabile Jr.

By Monday morning, that message was gone from the website, but snippets of the text still appear in links shared to Facebook on Sunday, including in a public post made by Jill Space, wife of state Assemblyman Parker Space. The theme park's Facebook page has also been deactivated.

The same message was distributed in flyers to would-be park-goers over the weekend, NJ Herald reported. "Despite numerous attempts to transfer the park into an entity that could continue to operate it and keep it in the Stabile-Benson Family ... this could not be achieved. If there are any issues or outstanding business, those issues must be addressed with the estate," the flyer reportedly said.

Wild West's website currently says they will be open next weekend. Longtime performer Larry Storch cancelled an upcoming June 16 event, citing the theme park's apparently closure.

A woman who answered the phone at Wild West City Monday morning said that the operating corporation had defaulted on their lease, and that the theme park was searching for a new management company. The woman, who identified herself as only Mary, said she was not an employee and identified herself as a "friend;" she declined to provide additional information, including her last name.

A follow-up email sent to the email address listed for the company online was not immediately answered.

The since-deleted message asks that all questions be directed to Michael Stabile III, the executor of Stabile Jr.'s estate and his son. Patch was unable to immediately located contact information for Stabile III.

Wild West City was founded in 1957 in Byram Township, and is a recreation of an old-time wild west city. It was purchased by Michael Stabile Sr. and his wife in the mid-1960s; Stabile Jr. took over operations upon his father's passing in the mid-1990s.

A long-time New Jersey favorite, the theme park has not been without controversy. What was supposed to be a reenactment of a shoot-out ended in an actor being paralyzed after a gun was accidentally loaded with real bullets in 2006.