Years of economic decline have left the Palace Amusements building dilapidated and the souvenir shops deserted.

Tillie and the Palace Amusements building can be seen in the background, a staple of Asbury Park and its culture.

They are worthy of the grinning face of Tillie from Palace Amusements, which decorates the cover.

Asbury Park still has its oldest one, a 1910 Stein and Goldstein that is being fully restored at Palace Amusements.

Palace Amusements, built in 1888, closed in 1988, and the historic building fell into disrepair.

Palace Amusements locked its doors for the final time at 6:00 PM on Sunday, November 27, 1988.

In 2004, the Palace Amusements building in Asbury Park with the image of Tillie on it was set to be destroyed to make way for a hotel.

It is now called Palace Amusements, a castlelike structure with two mechanical palace guards standing watch outside.

Not everyone who looks at the peeling green walls of Palace Amusements sees only an ugly wreck.

It might have been a good thing for this city's architectural future when, a month ago, a rotting interior section of the Palace Amusements building finally crashed down.