The building sits on the northeast corner of Eighth Street and Long Beach Boulevard, with frontage on Seventh Street too. It's a one-story box on a 200-by-160-foot lot with 42 parking spaces out front and along the south side. Anyone who drives off the Causeway passes it. For years it has been the empty storefront at the island's front door. Since August, it has also had construction crews.
The SandPaper reported that partial demolition began Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, to make way for a family entertainment center run by Wainwright Amusements, the company that owns Fantasy Island and Thundering Surf in Beach Haven. Most of the coverage has focused on the arcade. The borough's own approval record says more about when the place is supposed to be open. It describes a small venue built to run in January as much as in July.
What the Board Approved in 2019
On May 15, 2019, Ship Bottom's Land Use Review Board memorialized its approval, and that resolution is the most detailed public description of the project. It lists the applicant's plans:
- Year-round operation. The resolution says the applicant "intends to keep the business open on a year round basis."
- Small format. The plan expected 3 to 5 employees on site and 40 to 60 guests at any one time.
- Five attractions. A game room with skee-ball, hoop shoots and video games that pay out redemption coupons, plus an escape room, a "chaos room," a café and an XD Theater. The resolution describes the XD Theater as a virtual reality ride with seats that move in place.
- A limited café menu. Pretzels, drinks, pizza and hot dogs. The menu was limited on purpose so the building wouldn't need an outside exhaust system.
- Hours. The application proposed 10 a.m. to midnight, with 10 a.m. to noon set aside for parties.
The board's April 17, 2019 vote added conditions, including closing by 11 p.m., security, no expansion of the building and moving the dumpster. So the 11 p.m. limit set at the vote is an hour earlier than the midnight close the application asked for.
The 2026 coverage describes the same core lineup: game zone, escape room, café and XD theater. The chaos room from the 2019 resolution doesn't appear in the August reports.
The size is also easy to get wrong. TAPinto called it a "32,000-square-foot facility." The SandPaper gives 32,000 square feet as the total lot area. The borough resolution puts the building itself at 9,775 square feet. That's about the size of a large pharmacy, which is what it used to be.
Why One Corner Needed a Variance and Seven Years
The project needed special approval because Ship Bottom's zoning doesn't allow arcades and amusement uses anywhere in town. The 2019 resolution notes that the Master Plan "specifically states that amusement type uses are not permitted in any Zone within the Borough," and that the borough has two existing amusement facilities, both subject to licensing. The CVS site is in the General Commercial Zone, so Wainwright Amusements had to ask for a use variance rather than simply apply for a permit.
The board approved it 5 to 2 in April 2019. Here is the rest of the timeline, pulled from the borough record and TAPinto's reporting:
- Feb. 14, 2019: Park Property, LLC, with Brian Wainwright as managing member, acquires the property.
- April 2019: The board grants the use variance and site plan approval.
- 2019 to 2022: Legal challenges stall the project.
- April 2022: The New Jersey Appellate Division upholds the zoning variance.
- August 2022: Borough officials approve the gaming license.
- 2023: The company seeks amended approvals. NJ.com reported that the amendment proposed a 3,775-square-foot second-floor storage addition, and the borough's Dec. 20, 2023 agenda lists a Wainwright Amusements resolution as Docket 2023:14.
- March 2026: Final updated plans are delivered to Borough Hall.
- Aug. 17, 2026: Demolition and site work begin.
One SandPaper sentence says demolition began "nearly four years after approval." The borough minutes date the vote to April 17, 2019, and the same SandPaper article says approval came in 2019. That makes it more than seven years.
A Different Front Door Than in 2019
The corner itself has changed since the board's vote. The SandPaper points out that the building sits where NJDOT carried out the final phase of its $360 million Causeway rehabilitation. The work in front of the old CVS squared off what locals called the Causeway Circle, made Long Beach Boulevard a full north-south road there in May 2025, and added a traffic signal at Eighth Street.
So the venue will open onto a signalized corner, where Boulevard traffic now runs both ways past its front lot. In August, TAPinto reported crews working on a complete parking lot remodel and new landscaping outside. Brian Wainwright told The SandPaper the old structure is being reworked, not cleared:
"The building is not coming down. Portions (of the building) will be rebuilt."
Two Opening Targets Published in the Same Week
When it opens is the least settled part of the story. All three outlets that covered the August start published within four days of each other, and they don't agree:
- TAPinto, Aug. 17: the developer aims to open "by the end of December 2026."
- NJ.com, Aug. 19: expected by the end of 2026.
- The SandPaper, Aug. 20: "the long-awaited opening next summer."
As of mid-October 2026, we haven't found any public update since Aug. 20 with a firmer date, an official name or a set of off-season hours. TAPinto's headline calls it a "Fantasy Island Entertainment Center," but no source we found confirms that as the formal name. Until the operator announces a date, both targets are still possible. An end-of-year opening would mean a winter debut. A summer opening would mean a first season in peak traffic.
Either way, the plan on file is for a year-round business. TAPinto also reported that local officials and the owners expect it to become a year-round attraction.
A Ticket That Works in Beach Haven Too
The 2019 resolution links the new venue to Fantasy Island in a specific way. It says the operation "will be similar to the arcade operation at Fantasy Island in Beach Haven," that redemption tickets "may be shared between the locations," and that the company plans to offer different games in Ship Bottom than in Beach Haven.
If that plan holds, a family could earn tickets on Seventh Street and spend them at the Beach Haven arcade, or the other way around. Because the games are meant to differ, the two places would offer different things to do.
Fantasy Island's own website gives a sense of what the off-season looks like for an arcade like this. The homepage says "The Arcade is Open All Year!" and also advertises Friday through Sunday arcade hours. Its October 2026 calendar lists arcade events on selected weekends. Ship Bottom's hours haven't been announced, and the Beach Haven schedule doesn't set them. It's simply the closest example the same company has published.
The Corner Before It Opens
Until the doors open, the stretch around Seventh and Eighth streets still follows the borough's fall calendar. These are the next dates on the Boulevard and at the bay end of town:
- Oct. 23, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.: Ship Bottom's annual Trunk or Treat at the Municipal Ramp on W. 10th Street.
- Nov. 28, 5:00 to 6:30 p.m.: the annual Christmas-season event at the Ship Bottom Municipal Ramp, listed on the Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce calendar.
- Dec. 5, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.: the 47th annual Ship Bottom Christmas Parade on the Boulevard from 5th to 25th streets.
The parade route runs along the Boulevard past the old CVS lot at Seventh and Eighth streets. Whether the doors open around the end of the year or next summer, the parade will pass a building that hasn't opened yet. You can follow announcements on the borough's events calendar and in The SandPaper.
When a long-empty building at the foot of the Causeway changes hands or changes use, it affects the whole stretch around it, from parking to traffic to the businesses next door. If you own near Seventh and Eighth streets and want to talk through what this project could mean for your block, Paula E Brennan is happy to walk through it with you. Let's Connect.
