What do you want to see in the 94th Street Plaza?

Demolition of the long-abandoned Ocean Plaza Mall, formerly sandwiched between Rose’s and ACME in the 94th Street bayside shopping plaza, began around this time last year. Now the ground has been leveled, and in the old mall’s place is just a gravel lot and a chainlink fence. It’s a blank slate.

David Donato, the Senior Vice President of the group that manages the site, Continental Realty Corporation, told the Dispatch in Feb. 2018, “We would love to redevelop this site, but there are some challenges right now… This demolition work is not a signal that something new is imminent.”

Rose’s and ACME remain open, and there hasn’t been any news of what might replace the old mall since its demolition. 

We drove by the site on Wednesday, Feb. 6, and took a quick Facebook Live, asking, “What would you like to see the old mall on 94th street become?” We received 158 comments in response. 

The general consensus on Facebook seems to be that no one wants a chain restaurant or hotel (for the most part), and that most people would like to see some kind of entertainment complex or green space.

Some of the responses we really agreed with. Others we chuckled at. Some made us scratch our heads. If future developers want to make the people of Ocean City happy, all they really have to do is post a question on Facebook. “What do you want to see here?”

Here’s what you want to see in this spot:

An aquarium and animal rescue center
A big, wonderful lazy river with swim-up bars
“A 20 story parking lot so people will finally stop complaining about no where to park” (Wouldn’t that be an eyesore, though?)
A new state-of-the-art bowling alley with a pub
A park with walking trails
An indoor/outdoor waterpark
Somewhere to go when it rains, like a Dave & Buster’s or a Sky Zone trampoline park
A new mall 
A flea market (The empty Ocean Plaza Mall actually housed a flea market for a short period)
An indoor playground
A dinner theater like Medieval Times
A sports complex/Rec center
A farmer’s market
A kids’ entertainment center
“Let nature take back the land”
A Rainforest Cafe
Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville
A Trader Joe’s
Another Playland Amusements
An air strip
A petting zoo
Thrashers (maybe a super-sized Thrashers?)
A skating rink
Something like Myrtle Beach’s Barefoot Landing
A big combined Candy Kitchen/Sunsations (wait, was this a joke?)
A Bass Pro Shop
“Jail for H2O people”

Our friends on Facebook are a creative bunch. What would you like to see in the 94th Street Plaza?