Wild West City Staying Open: Now Open Daily For Summer

STANHOPE, NJ — After mixed messaging around their future, old timey theme park Wild West City says it is here to stay.

Wild West City's future seemed up in the air after the theme park posted— and then deleted— a note on their website saying they were closed last week. The park was open over Father's Day weekend, and says it will be open daily through the end of the summer.

"Wild West City will continue the tradition of the Wild West in New Jersey. The park is now open daily for the season operating as the tri-state area's premier western theme park. The ongoing support for the park has been nothing short of amazing and is greatly appreciated," said in a statement released to News 12.

The park's future came into question the weekend of June 8, when park-goers were handed flyers advising them of a closure.

"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.

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.

That no longer appears to be the case. After being temporarily offline, the Wild West City Facebook page is back up, and advertising their summer hours.

The park is open daily in Stanhope during the summer from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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.