When I was in Ohio in June I made a point of taking a detour to Chippewa Lake to see the destruction of the site.
I was very surprised to see not much has happened with the new development at all. There were a few construction trucks and a couple of parked cars by the gate next to where the Coaster used to be, but no development visible from the edge of the property.
I’m wondering whether anyone out there knows what’s going on? Was there a lack of funding? A planning problem? Did they deconstruct the most tangible memories of the park only for the project to languish under lack of steam?
The ferris wheel is still standing, so that’s one good thing. My husband said he thought it would be bigger…
Also, there’s a small sign outside one of the cottages that says Chippewa Lake Museum Coming Soon, or Future Sight of Chippewa Lake Museum or something like that. Which is very promising, if you ask me.
xo
A
I was just there a few days ago, and you CAN see the Ferris Wheel from the main gate (without entering the property) and I could swear that only HALF of the Wheel was there (only one side, instead of both sides of the parallel wheels) Possibly disassembled to separate the Wheel from the trees? I saw the “museum” too, and in front of the museum, on the lawn was the gears and hubs of the coaster’s lift hill mechanism, and one set of the old red caboose’s wheels were just inside the gate, to the left. I would LOVE for either a local resident, or a worker to “invite” me inside the property, since I’ve never been there, and I don’t know if they have cameras or armed security, or police inside the grounds…I’d LOVE to see the property, and I don’t plan on hurting ANYTHING, but I don’t feel that spending time in jail and being charged with trespassing isn’t really worth what I would see (if anything at this point). During my visit (I never entered the grounds, but spent a few minutes looking in through the gate), I was kinda hoping that a construction worker would come into view….There was a “parking lot” in front of the gate (outside the locked gates) Though I don’t know if they were “local cars” simply parked there for convenience, or workers on the site inside, though I didn’t hear any “machinery” which led me to believe that the construction at the site MIGHT have been halted (temporarily or permanently due to money concerns?) I don’t know if they still run the tours anymore…I was kinda hoping that I’d run into one of the locals for a quick Q+A session…I drove around the neighborhood to the left of the gate, and it seemed that there was nobody around….I never had the pleasure of visiting the park while it was open, (I was born in 1973!) But I would have LOVED to see it before it closed, and after it laid abandoned for some time…The idea that there were “papers still in the drawers” of the ticket booths, and the random cars and trucks scattered around the property, and how the coasters and rides still had the cars still on them……AMAZING! I could understand why they filmed a movie there (Closed for the season)….Though it’s disheartening that the park went unused for so long, it’s sadder to know that the magic of being “forgotten” for so long has been destroyed…..Especially if the developer doesn’t follow through with their plan…..Destroyed for in essence “nothing”…..I hope “they” plan to keep and possibly restore the Ferris Wheel and The Bug ride on the property, either in a fully operational state, or more of a decorative state (fresh coat of paint, and made to look like it works)…I’ve heard that the Ferris Wheel was cable driven, and was one of the FASTEST Ferris Wheels ever built…….