Asbury Park Palace Amusements artifacts, including Tillie, are on NJ endangered list

Artifacts from the former Palace Amusements in Asbury Park, including the famous Tillie face, are included in Preservation New Jersey's annual list of the 10 Most Endangered Places in the Garden State.

The list was announced Saturday, May 4.

The Palace Amusements, between Cookman and Lake avenues on Kingsley Street, was torn down in 2004 as part of a redevelopment plan, but some elements were saved. They are apparently located outside the city's Convention Hall, in a fenced off area that also houses the venue's dumpsters.

Reps for Madison Marquette, the retail developer for the Asbury Park boardwalk and the current owner of the artifacts, and the city did not reply to a request for comment by press time.

“Twenty years ago, 33 irreplaceable artifacts were saved when developers demolished Palace Amusements, a century-old arcade listed on the National Register of Historic Places,” said the Save Tillie campaign in a May 4 statement. “The plan for their future was imperfect. But the promise was explicit. In exchange for lucrative waterfront rights granted by the State of New Jersey, developers promised preservation and reuse. Twenty years on, the artifacts have never been brought back. The developers have never announced a preservation and reuse plan. Three times, the artifacts have been inspected by a prominent conservationist, who most recently found evidence of serious deterioration.”

The smirking face of Tillie, seen on T-shirts, bumper stickers and more, has become the unofficial symbol of Asbury Park and its resurgence as a summertime destination. Fans of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are especially fond of Tillie as the Palace Amusements is mentioned on the hit song “Born to Run,” and the group posed for a promotional shot in front of the winking Tillie in the '70s. Tillie was originally painted on the Palace in the mid-1950s, and he, along with a bumper car mural, were removed from the exterior of the building in 2004.

More: Asbury Park's Tillie was on the move. Here's where he's headed — and why you won't see him

More: Tillie of Asbury Park: Who owns the iconic face of the resurgent city?

A new Tillie face was painted on the Wonder Bar in 2004. The work was precipitated when Chevrolet wanted to do a photo shoot celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Corvette that year with the rock band the Goo Goo Dolls at the Palace Amusements. The photo shoot, at the suggestion of former Wonder Bar owner Pat Schiavino, was relocated to the newly painted Wonder Bar.

The original Tillie's permanent home was supposed to be a hotel next to the Asbury Park Casino and Carousel House. Those plans have since been scrapped.

“Where it’s going to go now, nobody knows,” said Mayor John Moor in 2021.

“It is imperative now that state officials undertake a long, hard, unbiased review of the deal, made in 2004, that has allowed the artifacts to be pushed to the brink of irretrievability,” said Save Tillie.

Preservation New Jersey receives an operating support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State. The list “spotlights irreplaceable historic, architectural, cultural, and archeological resources in New Jersey that are in imminent danger of being lost,” said Preservation New Jersey in a statement. “The act of listing these resources acknowledges their importance to the heritage of New Jersey and draws attention to the predicaments that endanger their survival and the survival of historic resources statewide.”

The rest of the 2024 list includes St. Paul's Abbey in Newton; the Anderson Farm and House, Bayville; the Garden State Gate House, Cherry Hill; Orange Memorial Hospital, Orange; the Homestead Plantation Enslaved Quarters, Clark; the MLK House, Camden; Joseph Horner House, Princeton; Urban Historic Districts, statewide; state owned and managed historic properties, statewide.

Visit preservationnj.org or more information.

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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; [email protected]

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Tillie of Asbury Park included on Preservation NJ endangered list