Ocean City remembers 2008 boardwalk fire
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the 2008 Ocean City boardwalk fire.
Historic buildings like the Marty’s Playland and the Dough Roller were severely damaged by the fire, but were able to recover months later.
“[The area] is the oldest part of Ocean City on the boardwalk,” said Glenn Irwin, the executive director for the Ocean City Development Corporation.
“Downtown and the boardwalk is the heart of Ocean City,” said Irwin.
Some decades old skeeball machines and crane diggers from the 60’s at the Playland were completely destroyed.
“In the short run, we had a lot of people [who] were afraid that it really devastated the arcade and totally killed the business – [that] a fun family center was gone from the boardwalk forever,” said Jeff Jankowski, a supervisor at Marty’s Playland.
“But, they recuperated as fast they could and saved whatever [they] could to start and get back up running,” said Jankowski.
The Dough Roller told ABC that the fire was a painful time and declined to further comment.
Melanie Bianco, an Ocean City resident, said she takes her kids frequently to Marty’s Playland and that she is grateful the place was able to recover.
“My husband and I bring our kids here and they get tickets, they save them up, they get prizes, but it’s just really the fun of just spending time together that keeps us here all the time,” said Bianco.
“These skeeball machines have probably been here since my parents were kids and would come to Ocean City with their families, so it’s fun I think historically to be able to play the same things that our parent’s played on,” Bianco said.
