As Gov. Phil Murphy’s two terms come to a close, preservationists are urging his administration to save Tillie, a giant, grinning fun house face and emblem of Asbury Park.
For two decades, Tillie, whose visage was removed from indoor amusement park Palace Amusements before the building’s demolition in 2004, has been in storage as the real estate development slated to replace Palace has been in the works. But Tillie fans worry it may already have deteriorated nearly beyond repair, and they want Murphy to step in before it’s too late to resurrect it.
“If any governor has a compelling reason to get this done, it’s Governor Murphy,” said Bob Crane, who heads the Save Tillie foundation.
Tillie was part of the mural that graced the lime-green exterior of Palace Amusements, which stood near the ocean in Asbury Park for more than 100 years (the mural included two Tillies). The caricatures were painted in 1956 and soon became a symbol of this Jersey Shore town’s 20th century heyday. Tillie was featured on “The Sopranos” and on tour t-shirts for Bruce Springsteen in the 1970s. Palace shuttered in 1988 and fell into disrepair.
Before the Palace building was torn down to make way for an oceanfront real estate development, Crane and other activists lobbied to have as much of it preserved and restored as possible. They managed to save from ruin one Tillie, bumper cars that were also part of the mural, and 21 metal letters spelling out Palace Amusements.
A 52-page permit dated March 2004 between the Department of Environmental Protection and the developers who purchased the lot includes a provision requiring the artifacts to be preserved, restored, and displayed again.
“The preserved sections will be incorporated into a new hotel development or retail development at this location as part of the lobby wall,” the permit states.
But that new building has yet to be constructed. And the permit lacks any timeline requirements for when the area must be developed, local activists noted.
Fred Carl, a Wall Township historian, said he fears the Palace artifacts won’t come out of storage as long as they’re in the hands of developers.
“I was hopeful that it would be preserved, and it’s sort of sad this is another good faith effort being destroyed,” he said.
Today, the Palace lot is vacant, used as a parking lot by beachgoers and concert attendees.
David Mieras, an Ocean Grove native who was involved in the Save Tillie push at the turn of the 21st century, said the developers aren’t committed to restoring the mural, and public officials will not get involved.
“They could really put some pressure on (the developers) to do something with it. That’s all it would take. It wouldn’t take a lot,” he said. “They should start there, then move onto Convention Hall and the casino, because those are attractions that can never be replaced, ever.”
Tillie and the bumper cars were relocated once since they were removed from the Palace building. In 2021, they were taken from the wastewater treatment plant where they had been housed and placed in sheds near Convention Hall. Few people have seen their condition.
In 2016, an independent inspector who viewed Tillie said it had lost significant paint to the point of losing visual integrity, according to a letter Save Tillie attorneys sent to Murphy in June.
In May 2024, Preservation New Jersey named the artifacts as endangered, noting Palace Amusements was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. The group called on the developers to “think creatively and be proactive in returning these New Jersey icons to the public.”
Crane claimed the governor has the authority to direct state environmental officials to amend the permit and impose a time-specific plan for preservation and reuse of Tillie. He also wants an independent inspection, and urges the state to consider transferring oversight of the murals and letters to the state’s historic preservation office.
“Our hope is that at the time when he’s obviously clearing the decks and bringing to completion the things that he’s been working on during his career — including issuing pardons, commuting sentences — that he will see this is a 21-year-old crisis created long before he became governor, but that has continued,” Crane said. “And he has a chance to resolve it.”
A spokesperson for Murphy, who leaves office on Jan. 20, declined to comment. Developers iStar, Asbury Partners, and Madison Marquette did not respond to requests for comment.
The Department of Environmental Protection said in a statement that staff last conducted a site visit in 2018 and observed the artifacts in “satisfactory condition.” The department’s land resource protection division is coordinating with developers to ensure compliance with the project’s permit, spokesman Vincent Grassi said.
Grassi said the state has no say in preserving and displaying the artifacts under the permit, issued under the authority of the Coastal Area Facilities Review Act.
“The DEP in July reminded Asbury Partners of the CAFRA requirement and this week requested an update on efforts to fulfill the permit requirements. Once a hotel or retail development is constructed at the former site of Palace Amusements, the preserved artifacts are required to be incorporated into the new building,” he said in a statement.
Crane remains hopeful, despite having written to every governor who has helmed the state since Tillie was placed in storage, to no avail. He has not been able to arrange a meeting with state environmental officials, he said.
Crane believes the permit’s language means Tillie and the other Palace artifacts would be used “in a very public way” to help connect people with Asbury Park’s history for generations to come.
“The word ‘preserve,’ it has a very particular meaning. It doesn’t mean just sticking in storage, walking away, and basically doing nothing else. It means treatment. It means taking them from where they are today and making sure that they are available in the future,” he said.
He believes if the state’s historic preservation office had oversight of the artifacts for enforcement purposes, “they would have been back in public view a long time ago.”
Carl, the Wall Township historian, suggested it’s time for plan B — finding a local artist to replicate a full-sized version of Tillie and display it on the boardwalk or Convention Hall, where tourists and locals can learn about its history, he said. A replica of Tillie was painted on the outside of Wonder Bar, a few blocks north of the Palace lot, but Carl said most people today don’t know about its historical connection to Asbury Park.
“Plan A is stuck, and time is moving on,” he said. “Public outcry hasn’t done anything, and I don’t think the government has any authority to make them do anything. So this will get the iconic story of Tillie, the wonderful family vacations, and the people whose memories are tied up with Asbury Park, and bring it into the future.”
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