South Jersey Amusement Park Offers Starting Pay Of $18 An Hour

CLEMENTON, NJ — Forget the minimum wage. A South Jersey amusement park is set to pay some employees as much as $18 an hour when it reopens.

Clementon Park and Splash World is advertising $18 an hour as the starting pay, with a $500 sign-on bonus. The advertisement went up on the company’s Facebook page this week.

The park is hiring full-time and part-time ride maintenance workers. It will provide training, and employees will start immediately.

The bonus will be paid out after July 9 with a minimum of 120 hours worked. You can apply for a position here.

According to glassdoor.com, the average salary for a ride maintenance worker is $47,766 a year, which comes out to an average of $17 for a full-time employee. The minimum wage in New Jersey is $12 an hour.

In March, an Indiana group purchased Clementon Park for $2.3 million, and said it would reopen the park later this year. Read more here: Clementon Park Goes For $2.3M At Auction, Will Reopen, Buyer Says

In a Facebook post, the owners said they had hoped to open the first weekend of June, but that didn’t happen.

“Our teams are working tirelessly to deliver a product that will make the entire community proud, and we appreciate your patience as we work though all the processes to get the park open,” the company said in the post. “Our number one goal is to provide a safe and friendly environment for every guest who visits us.”

Clementon Park was founded as one of the nation's first "trolley parks" in 1907. It was built at the end of a trolley line to encourage ridership during the weekends and to provide amusements for residents of nearby Philadelphia.

Theodore Gibbs and his two sons founded the park, and it remained in the family until it was sold in 2011 to Premier Parks, who then renamed it Clementon Park and Splash World in recognition of the addition of the water park.

“We can't wait to welcome you all back to Clementon Park & Splash World,” the new owners said on Facebook. “Thank you for your patience and understanding.”