An Ocean City Icon Faces Turn in Economic Tide
Property Taxes, Energy Costs and Insurance Rates Force Family to Consider Closing Park

By Philip Rucker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 28, 2007

OCEAN CITY -- For 117 summers, generations of children have frolicked through Trimper's Rides on this beach resort town's signature boardwalk. But this Memorial Day weekend might begin the last summer they circle the antique wooden carousel, fling around the Tilt-a-Whirl and loop through the Tidal Wave roller coaster.

The Trimpers say they are considering closing the amusement park and arcade this year.

As Ocean City has exploded into a megaresort, property taxes have soared for Trimper's, which operates on the last chunk of undeveloped land on the town's three-mile boardwalk. In the past three years, family members said, their assessed property value has tripled, from $21 million to $65 million.

So the Trimpers are facing reality. Revenue from thrill rides and arcade games can't keep pace with the skyrocketing value of their three-block site, they say. In addition to property taxes, insurance and energy costs are up, and the family is split over what to do: Some members want to sell, but others want to find a way -- perhaps through a change to lower the park's assessment or a historic designation -- to keep going.

"After 117 years, I don't want to be the Trimper that closes the place up," said family patriarch Granville D. Trimper, 78, president of the company. Although he declined to provide financial specifics, Trimper said, "We can't keep going without making a profit."

Across the nation -- from Coney Island, N.Y., to Myrtle Beach, S.C., to Panama City, Fla. -- beach amusement parks have become victims of the ocean-view development boom.

Trimper's is the oldest continuously owned amusement park in the United States, and its demise would reverberate beyond the mid-Atlantic shore, said Jim Futrell of the National Amusement Park Historical Association.

Closing Trimper's "will forever change Ocean City, and I don't think it will change it for the better," Futrell said. "It would rob the community of its soul."

No developer has approached the family about buying the property, said Doug Trimper, Granville's son, who helps manage the park. But the Trimpers need only consider recent history to know what could be in store if they sell.

At Coney Island, the vintage Astroland amusement park is scheduled to close at the end of this summer after 45 years in operation. A developer bought the park for $30 million and plans to build hotels and condominiums.

In Myrtle Beach, the Pavilion amusement park was shuttered in the fall after 58 years. In April, the old park's creaky benches, rickety go-karts and chipped carousel horses were auctioned, and the property's owner plans to develop a shopping mall.

And in Panama City, the Miracle Strip Amusement Park, home to Florida's first roller coaster, went dark in 2004 after 41 years. A developer bought the 20-acre oceanfront property for a reported $15 million to build high-rise condominiums.

Some boardwalk amusement parks are surviving. In nearby Rehoboth Beach, Del., the Funland park has entered its 46th summer with children riding the bumper cars, touring the Haunted Mansion and holding on for the Sea Dragon free fall.

In Ocean City, Trimper's is a fixture. There are the arcade with rows of Skee-Ball lanes, the pipe-organ carousel with hand-painted horses, the haunted house and the mirror maze.

"When you think of the boardwalk, you think of Trimper's Rides," Mayor Richard W. Meehan said.

The Trimpers themselves are fixtures. Granville Trimper, a former mayor and City Council president, is a gregarious and portly man known to hold court and talk politics on the benches outside the Pirate's Cove amusement.

The park was founded in 1890 by Granville's German immigrant grandparents. Today, the park is controlled by 14 family members, who are divided over whether to sell the property. Granville Trimper owns the most shares -- a third -- and he wants to keep the business.

Joyce Foreacre Trimper, 66, whose late husband ran the park before Granville, owns the second largest number of shares, about a quarter. She said she wants to sell because the business is no longer economically feasible.

"I think it's time to move forward," she said in a telephone interview from her home in Vero Beach, Fla. "If you own something and it can't produce the income to make it worthwhile, then anybody with a good business sense would look to do something different."

Discussions of selling the property have strained relations within the family.

"There's a definite difference of opinion," Joyce Foreacre Trimper said. "I could lay it all out for you, but I don't know that that's the thing to do."

Even loyal customers are torn.

As the sun was setting Friday, Henry and Joan Brisker brought their 5-year-old granddaughter, Sophie, for a ride on the carousel. Joan, 62, a native Washingtonian, remembers the rides at Trimper's from her childhood. She took her son, Sophie's father, when he was young.

"You always come to Trimper's Rides," said Joan, a former pharmaceutical executive who retired with Henry in nearby Ocean Pines, Md.

She doesn't want to see the park close. "It's really sad. It's a landmark. How do you tell a 6-year-old, 'Oh, well, there's no more merry-go-round?'"

But her husband, Henry, 62, also a native Washingtonian, sees things differently.

"This is a disaster," the retired engineer said, pointing to the aging carousel. "It's a whole chunk of junk. They should tear this down and build something modern here."

"This was hot stuff like in the '50s," he added. "It's just over. We don't have buggy whips anymore. Things end. It's time to move on."

Operating the amusement park has become more expensive with rising insurance bills and energy costs, Doug Trimper said. The Trimpers wouldn't say whether revenue and attendance at the park is up or down.

To keep pace over the years, the Trimpers have raised ticket prices, but they say they will go only so high. "I'm ashamed with the prices right now, $3 to ride around for two minutes," Granville Trimper said. "There's a point where people are just not going to ride."

Granville and Doug Trimper have appealed the taxes with the state. They also have reached out to Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) and lawmakers for help. Options under consideration include a historic designation or legislation to change the way the park is assessed, Doug said.

Hannah Byron, O'Malley's assistant secretary of tourism, said her office is considering drafting legislation to help Trimper's.

"The governor has directed my office to work on solutions to save this state treasure and keep Trimper's in operation," Byron said.

Losing Trimper's could harm Ocean City's economy, which is driven by 8 million tourists each year. With a payroll of about $2.5 million, the park employs about 300 people, about 40 of them year-round, Granville Trimper said.

"It's the heartbeat" of the boardwalk, said Del. James N. Mathias Jr. (D-Worcester), a former Ocean City mayor. "From the pipe organ of the carousel to the game where you pick the duck out of the pond . . . it's what people dream about when they dream about their summer vacation."

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.