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Sussex County’s iconic Gingerbread Castle to be restored

An iconic Sussex County tourist spot that has fallen into disrepair will soon be restored.
The fairy tale-themed amusement park Gingerbread Castle was built in the 1920s in Hamburg.
“Joseph Urban designed the castle, as well as Trump’s Mar-A-Lago in Florida, among other places,” says new owner Don Oriolo.
By the 1980s, attendance declined and the Gingerbread Castle was abandoned and fell into disrepair.
Robert Allen, 90, is the castle keeper and helps to maintain it.
“In 1938, I opened my mother’s curtains and that’s when I saw the castle for the first time,” he says. “I heard so much about it, but never knew where it was.” 
Allen says that he made it his duty to protect the castle. 
“I’m going to stay here until I drop,” he says.
Oriolo bought the property and plans to restore the park.
"I saw it was starting to fall into a severe state of neglect and I wanted to see that it would be preserved.  It's an important part of history,” he says.
Oriolo says that he has many photographs of the park in its heyday so that they can reproduce it.
“I’ve also located some of the original, I guess ‘old-world’ craftsmen,” he says.
Artist Mia Giard has repainted the Puff the Magic Dragon statue.
"It's fun to be able to look at it and see the sign that everybody is going to be passing by continuously,” she says.
The goal is to have the castle portion ready for visitors next season. Oriolo says he wants to bring back the trains and petting zoo in the future.