Rebuilding Continues For Playland’s Castaway Cove In Ocean City

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Plans to rebuild Playland’s Castaway Cove in Ocean City are taking shape nearly a year after an accidental fire destroyed part of its arcade.

The city’s planning board recently approved renovations to the new building which will have a second floor for storage and offices. Similar to the former building, the first floor layout will contain the arcade and food service with a Dairy Queen and a restaurant.

The owner of Hamburger Construction Company has retired which leaves an open space for a new tenant, according to Brian Hartley, vice president of Playland’s Castaway Cove.

There are also plans to replace the arcade’s landmark pirate ship.

“The pirate ship is the one thing that everybody keeps asking about,” Hartley said. “I think they’ve really come to know that as a landmark here on the boardwalk.”

The owners of Playland’s Castaway Cove are also considering adding a new attraction such as a ride or roller coaster on top of the building.

“We’re still working on the plans for that to see what we can make work in that space that would be thrilling and exciting for the public,” Hartley said.

After boardwalk crowds dwindled down during the fall, construction crews laid the foundation for a new building.

Future construction will be organized in phases, with the first phase being the completion of the arcade, the second phase adding the pirate ship and third phase building an attraction above the building. Architects are now working on designs for the building’s interior with site work expected to begin in late February.

Hartley said the new arcade will likely open in the spring of 2023 depending on product availability and weather-related disruptions.

“We’re thinking there’s an outside shot that we could have something open late summer — maybe August. If not, we’ll have to put off the opening until spring 2023,” he said.

The rides at the amusement park will still operate as usual like last summer where people came in through an easement at Jilly’s.

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