first major amusement park. Frederic Thompson and Elmer "Skip" Dundy opened Luna Park, Coney Island's second major amusement park, in 1903 on the site of Sea Lion Park, which had closed the previous year. William H. Reynolds, a former state senator and successful Brooklyn real estate developer, decided to construct Dreamland following the success of Luna Park. He intended for Dreamland to compete with Luna Park. Dreamland was supposed to be refined and elegant in its design and architecture, compared to Luna Park with its many rides and chaotic noise. Reynolds announced plans in July 1903 for an amusement park rivaling Luna Park, which was to be built in a style resembling London's Hippodrome. According to local media, he reportedly paid $180,000 for a pier on the Coney Island Beach, as well as $447,500 for two parcels at Surf Avenue and West Eighth Street, measuring deep and wide. The Times Union subsequently said that the purchase prices for the site were not correct. The Surf Avenue parcels had belonged to John Y. McKane, who had operated a bathing house on the site. Previously, the parcels had also included the Coney Island Athletic Club's arena and the Culver Depot, the then-terminal of New York City Subway's BMT Brighton Line and BMT Culver Line. Although C. L. Turnbull and P. I. Thompson were nominally the buyers, but they acted as proxies for Reynolds, allowing him to acquire the Surf Avenue site at a discount of more than $50,000. Once Reynolds acquired the site, he made a deal with the New York City Board of Estimate to demap West Eighth Street, which separated McKane's parcels from each other. The street, which had taken up one-sixth of the proposed park's width, contained a trolley terminal that needed to be relocated. Originally, the park was supposed to be known as the Hippodrome. In August 1903, Reynolds and several other men established the Wonderland Company, which was capitalized at $1.2 million. The Wonderland Company had been created specifically to develop an amusement park on the site. The amusement pier was planned to contain a dance hall and bathing pavilion, while the main portion of the site would be arranged around a large tower that would overtop Luna Park's. The company took title to the plots in September 1903 and received a $200,000 mortgage loan from the Title Guarantee and Trust Company. The Edison Company was hired