Photo:GBEDROSIAN 2001
One of Asbury Park's oldest and most famous buildings, Palace Amusements, would be added to the New Jersey Register of Historic Places if an application filed by a coalition of preservation groups wins approval.
"Palace Amusements, at 112 years old, is the only surviving seashore amusements building that combines the style of the gay '90s with the whimsical 1950s," the groups said.
The 32-page application traces Palace history from 1888, when it opened as a Victorian pavilion, through expansions in 1895, 1903 and 1955, to the present. Although the Palace closed on November 27, 1988, there is interest in refurbishing and reopening the Palace as part of the city's waterfront redevelopment project.
According to the application, "ten generations of youths grew up with the Palace carousel. Ten generations rode the Ferris wheel up through the roof for a panoramic view of the Atlantic Ocean. Five generations entered the Palace under the neon-lit grin of the ‘Tillie' image and other original artwork painted on the Lake Avenue, Cookman Avenue and Kingsley Street walls in 1956. And around the world, three generations of music fans came to know the Palace through the lyrics of 1999 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Bruce Springsteen and other Jersey Shore musicians, even though many fans have never seen it for themselves."
The application was co-authored by Save Tillie Inc., a group of Bruce Springsteen fans involved in trying to save the Palace and the iconic Tillie image, Werner Baumgartner of the Asbury Park Historical Society, Gregory Raymer of Historic Preservations, Inc. of Golden, Colorado, and Ocean Grove historian and writer Christopher Flynn.