This summer may be the last for 117-year-old Trimper's in Ocean City, Md. (Ocean City Tourism Office)

At the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, the view from the wooden Giant Dipper roller coaster is sea and sand. More than 50 million people have ridden the coaster since it opened in 1924. Along with the 1911 Looff Carousel, the Giant Dipper is one of two National Historic Landmarks at the Beach Boardwalk, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this summer—a significant milestone, since the Boardwalk is one of the few remaining seaside amusement parks in the United States.

Several old oceanfront parks have closed in recent years, including the Miracle Strip Amusement Park in Panama City Beach, Fla., which closed three years ago, and South Carolina's Myrtle Beach Pavilion, which was shuttered in 2006. Coney Island's Astroland amusement park was sold to developers last year, and its fate is uncertain. And in Ocean City, Md., the Trimper family has said that this summer may be the last for Trimper's Rides, the boardwalk amusement park that opened in 1890 and is one of the oldest operating amusement parks in the world.

The soaring value of beach real estate, coupled with rapidly escalating property-tax assessments, has made it increasingly difficult for the Trimpers to turn a profit. The family has appealed the park's property-tax assessment, and is awaiting a decision from the state's board of assessments.

"It would be a very sad day for Ocean City if Trimper's closed," says James Lilliefors, author of America's Boardwalks: From Coney Island to California. "The character of south Ocean City" would be lost if it were gone, he says. "That's a perfect boardwalk."

The price of oceanfront property is the problem, Lilliefors says. "It has just skyrocketed, and, in many cases, it just doesn't make sense to have roller coasters and Ferris wheels when you could have condos and be making a lot more money. That's the economic reality of it, and that's why some of the best parks on the East Coast are closing."

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk's Dipper (Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council)

A few parks, however, have been able to survive, and even thrive—notably, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. "Santa Cruz is probably the best example," Lilliefors says. "It really incorporates the old and the newc they 'keep the nostalgia current.'"

Ted Whiting, vice president of the Santa Cruz Seaside Company, which operates the Beach Boardwalk, emphasizes that both nostalgia and cutting-edge technology are important to its success. "We offer the public, when they come back, enough of what they remember c while also bringing in new things each year that keep their interest," he says. The company has brought in new rides while meticulously maintaining the old ones. (Four full-time painters make sure the Giant Dipper is always fresh and gleaming.)

Whiting says that while property taxes aren't a problem for his park, the company is the largest private taxpayer in the city of Santa Cruz. The taxes include parking, admission, utility, and transient occupancy taxes. Still, he says, the company has never gotten any public support, subsidy, or tax relief. "It's a year-in, year-out struggle to stay profitable and keep pushing forward," Whiting says.

(Funland)

Another beach park that has so far won the battle to stay profitable is the small Funland amusement park in Rehoboth Beach, Del. Funland was started in the late 1930s by Jack Dentino, who set up a "spill-the-milk" game on the boardwalk and gradually built the park from there. Al Fasnacht, whose family bought Funland in 1962, says that keeping the park the same over the years has contributed to its longevity. "There's hardly a night that goes by that somebody doesn't say to mec eYou put me on [this ride], now you're putting my kids on.' Tradition," Fasnacht says. "That's a big part of it."

But still, given the skyrocketing value of beach property, has Fasnacht ever been tempted to sell the family business? "No," he says with a smile. "We're into the fourth generation c As long as they show an interest, we're pleased to pass it on."

So for now, proud parents with cameras still look on while their small children ride Funland's 60-year-old fire engines and space-age rocket ships, while across the country in Santa Cruz, the Giant Dipper dips and rolls through its ninth decade. Scenes like these are worth preserving, Lilliefors says. "Where corporate entities have become so strong, it's nice that some of those family-owned businesses still exist and are doing well," he says. "They represent something that's kind of at the heart of who we are as a country, and I hate to see that go."

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