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Nostalgic visitors take closer look at former amusement park as workers remove overgrowth for redevelopment of property
By Marilyn Miller
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Friday, Apr 03, 2009
CHIPPEWA LAKE TWP.: As a child, Janice Miller used to listen to the sounds of Chippewa Lake Park resonate through the neighborhood.
''I could hear the clackity clack of the roller coaster going up the track and then the screams of people as the ride was going downhill,'' Miller recalled. ''I could hear talking on the loudspeaker at the park, and the motorboats on the lake.''
She would sit in the upstairs hall window of her home and watch the park's fireworks display.
Miller, 66, who now lives in Wadsworth, grew up on a farm on Buffham Road in Chippewa Lake Township about two miles away from the park.
Motorists used to line up in front of her childhood home as they waited to enter the park.
Chippewa Lake Park operated from 1878 through 1978 when it was shut down by owner Continental Business Enterprises.
''I remember a lot of fun out here,'' Miller said this week as she walked around the park.
All that's left are the rickety wood-and-metal frames of the rides, including the Big Dipper roller coaster and Ferris wheel.
''My favorite ride was the [Tumble] Bug, right down there,'' she said, pointing off in the distance. ''I have a lot of good memories.''
Work began this week to clear away three decades of overgrown trees and weeds as new investors look to remake the property. Nostalgia buffs like Miller have been provided a
rare glimpse of what's left of the park.
Property curator Richard Duecker said the thick bushes made a perfect setting for the horror movie Closed for the Season, which was filmed on the property last summer.
''Now that the trees are down, the next step is to get all the brush cleared out so the new owners can get a better idea of what they own,'' he said. ''I counted the rings; some of these trees are 156 years old. It's a beautiful area, it was just well hidden behind all the trees.''
A group of developers, Chippewa Lake Partners LLC, purchased the park's 90 acres. The Lafayette Township Zoning Commission approved a more flexible zoning scheme for the site for a $100 million proposed development.
Alliss Strogin, the township's zoning inspector, calls the plans to develop a hotel and other attractions a chance to bring the park ''back to its glory days.''
''It was a vibrant, successful jewel that was left to decay,'' she said. ''For the past 30 years, it has just been sitting there.''
Developers hope to build a four-story Hilton hotel, cabins and boathouses.
Beach restoration
Strogin said the company also plans to restore the beach area.
The plans submitted to the township also call for a conference center, restaurants and retail shops. There would also be a Japanese-style spa and a wellness center facility managed by Akron General.
An accredited culinary institute is also planned for 400 to 500 students.
Strogin said the developers believe that as many 300 full-time jobs and 200 additional seasonal jobs could be created.
''The company has also graciously donated land for the Lafayette Fire Department on the site,'' Strogin said. ''The department wants to expand in a few years when the funds are available.''
The Medina County Park District owns the lake.
The park still holds memories for many.
Janice Miller and her husband, Ray, who grew up in Wadsworth, reminisced about company picnics, WHLO Days with rock 'n' roll music, the park's Hamburger Factory stand and dances at the Chippewa Lake Ballroom, which was destroyed by an arsonist several years ago.
Duecker said the amusement park held a lot of history, playing host to many orchestras in the big-band era. The first radio broadcast of the Lawrence Welk Orchestra was at Chippewa in the summer of 1933.
Jungle Larry also got his start at Chippewa Lake Park. Larry Tetzlaff, a popular animal trainer and conservationist, was at the park every weekend before moving to Cedar Point in 1964, then expanding to Naples, Fla.
At the park's front gate, the ticket booth is still standing.
''It used to cost 10 cents per person to get in, as opposed to what, $53 now to get into Cedar Point,'' Janice Miller said.
Longtime Chippewa Lake resident Steven Piskach,51, lives in a nearby cottage.
''I used to come by every day when the park was open. I sat in the arcade most of the time playing pinball.''
High school job
He also worked there while attending Medina High School.
''I worked some of the games and ran a couple of the rides in Kiddie Land,'' he said. ''I liked the big slide. I'd hand the kids those big burlap sacks and tell them, 'no trains, one at a time,' and they'd run back around and climb up the stairs to ride again and again.''
Duecker said a lot of people have been stopping by this week to walk down memory lane.
''It's funny but I always envisioned this place bigger than it actually is,'' Janice Miller said.''It really was something back then.''
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.
CHIPPEWA LAKE TWP.: As a child, Janice Miller used to listen to the sounds of Chippewa Lake Park resonate through the neighborhood.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Tallmadge, OH
Posted 06:26 AM, 04/03/2009
How well I remember WHLO Rock n' Roll day at the park. It was the only day I visited the park with all my hippy friends each year, but the park would always be fun that day.
Akron, OH
Posted 06:34 AM, 04/03/2009
I played there in 1975 with "Jabbo" on the lake stage !!!!
Posted 06:50 AM, 04/03/2009
I remember they called it WHLO Appreciation Day with Johnny an the good guys and have a plane fly over drop ping-pong balls where you could win prizes the Miss -Fits motor cycle gang there riding there choppers wearing there colors drinking beer
Bizarrebertucky, OH
Posted 08:05 AM, 04/03/2009
I remember seeing Michael Stanley and Jonah Kozlen play there,back before they got a record deal,and made it big with the Michael Stanley Band. They played with The Rubber City Rebels and a band called Taxi. Great memories...
Medina, OH
Posted 08:27 AM, 04/03/2009
What could they possibly be thinking? Hotel, cabins, boats, culinary institute, conference center, spa -- hello, Chippewa Lake is in the middle of NO WHERE. It's on the way to NOTHING.
Las Vegas was a big nothing in the desert when it was developed, so I guess there's a shred of hope.
No there isn't.
Mogadore, OH
Posted 08:28 AM, 04/03/2009
I remember WHLO party day, and the helicopter dropping numbered ping pong balls into the lake, prizes were awarded according to the numbers! Glass Harp played that day...I was so young then.
baytown, TX
Posted 08:36 AM, 04/03/2009
My Mom has pictures of me when I was two at the park with the coaster in the background.
Akron, OH
Posted 08:49 AM, 04/03/2009
@badadbabe,
Gotta agree with you on this one. $100 Large seems like a huge chunk of money to invest on the "if you build it, they will come" business plan. I hope it works out for them. It would be nice to have another successful attraction in NEO.
Akron, OH
Posted 08:52 AM, 04/03/2009
Still have my Gold Pass from an Appreciation Day of some sort before rock & roll took over everything (Grump, I'm shocked). Had relatives that owned a cottage with the train track running behind it. Loved that train. Loved the rocket ship ride with the cars swinging out over the lake. Loved Chippewa Lake Park. A different time, for sure.
Some kids would always manage to sneak a basketball into the ballroom, with that great wooden floor. Not that there were ever any baskets, but just to dribble a ball on it seemed sweet to them, I suppose.
San Diego, CA
Posted 09:28 AM, 04/03/2009
I remember going there one year and listening to Sonny Geraci and the Outsiders! Boy that was a long time ago.
River Styx, OH
Posted 09:46 AM, 04/03/2009
My own personal memory is pretty limited - one visit with a gradeschool chum's family - but it seemed old and rickety, in a cool way, when I was there. Whatever happened to all of the boats - I can't recall them, but I was told that there were rental boats, and lots of them were old Chris-Craft, Hacker-Craft, GarWood and other runabouts and launches.
Posted 10:12 AM, 04/03/2009
I'd still be riding the rocket ride if they were open...
Akron, Oh
Posted 10:29 AM, 04/03/2009
I saw Paula Petralungah there in 1959. Excellant show.
Posted 11:18 AM, 04/03/2009
Gary Lewis and the Playboys and a couple of other one time wonders.
Atlanta, GA
Posted 11:46 AM, 04/03/2009
The ABJ writes all of these stories about the great times with great people in the PAST!
I enjoy reading them.
But I have to wonder is there any good in Akron's future?
Most everything has been so negative the past 25-30 years.
Akron, Oh
Posted 11:51 AM, 04/03/2009
I have home movies of my kids taken there when the Ohio Brass had their company picnic there.
Barberton, OH
Posted 12:05 PM, 04/03/2009
"Chippewa Lake is in the middle of NO WHERE. It's on the way to NOTHING."
That's where the best places are. Nothing like a vacation away from the hustle and bustle of the cities.
Akron, OH
Posted 12:12 PM, 04/03/2009
You said it, Tony. And who's been in charge the past nearly 25 years? No day at the fair for blue collar Akronites.
BTW, lots of books about Chippewa Lake Park available on amazon.com & elsewhere.
Speaking of the better times, I'd like to see an articles on Sandy Beach and Bob's Lake sometime.
Posted 12:30 PM, 04/03/2009
I thought the Medina Parks were planning a new parke here from this article http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/40705637.html
Canton, OH
Posted 02:07 PM, 04/03/2009
Chippewa Lake Park. . .Have 'um heap a good time. . . I can remember seein' The Young Rascals there. . .
Tallmadge, OH
Posted 02:35 PM, 04/03/2009
wow! Lots of great memories. I remember the ride where you stood inside a cage and with your own body movement you had to rock back and forth to get the cage up and over! How scary the silver rocket ride seemed at the time when you "flew" out over the water! The Ballroom had so much personality to it. It was a shame someone torched it! A man used to sit outside the front entrance (at the road) and sell watermelons out of his pick-up truck. We would buy one and crack it open on a rock and eat it while watching one of the free concerts. Ahhhh....those were the days!
WADSWORTH, OH
Posted 03:51 PM, 04/03/2009
ANYONE REMEMBER THE BAR ACCROSS THE ROAD AT THE ENTRANCE?
'THE GAY 90'S'
I TOSSED A FEW IN THERE AFTER CHASING 'KITTY' ALL DAY AT THE WHLO DAYS AND WHEN ROADWAY HAD THERE YEARLY PICNIC THERE FOR EMPLOYEES.
life just ain't the same-now we all got a thug war to deal with
WADSWORTH, OH
Posted 04:02 PM, 04/03/2009
old man grump and i used to toke a few after hours...lmao
Highland Square, OH
Posted 04:42 PM, 04/03/2009
I remember "The Gay 90's" Never went in, though. And @MaD - Glass Harp Wow! I've been listening to them a lot lately. They played everywhere back then.
akron, oh
Posted 09:20 PM, 04/03/2009
where was this place sorry i was born in 1982
Cuyahoga falls, oh
Posted 04:45 AM, 04/04/2009
I can still remeber my parents talking about going there on their first date 65 years ago-- And how Dad talked Mom into riding the roller coster & her telling that she was scared to death, but she wasn't going to tell him-- then as a kid going for schooldays & as a teen for WHLO days! Those my friends, were the good old days.
Mogadore, OH
Posted 08:05 AM, 04/04/2009
Truth Patrol- I was trying to think of the previous name, Bob's Lake Bar!
Bevian-I believe it was 73, or 74- many of us ran into the lake grabbing ping pong balls, I still have the album I'd won! When I came out, some guy handed me his watch,wallet, and said he'd get us more ping pong balls. He didn't get any, and I stood there soaking wet holding his watch, and wallet...this guy had never seen me before, and trusted me with his watch, and wallet! He was a hippie, and it was during the whole brotherhood thing...
