why did boblo island close

Bois Blanc Island, Pointe Aux Pins, MI 49775 +1 231-634-7100 + Add website + Add hours. [18], In 1994, John Oram, an Iraqi immigrant to the United States who owned car stereo businesses, purchased the Boblo Island site. It is so cool to see the old dock piers and the beach is sand. Each year the largest gathering was sponsored by the St. Andrew's Society of Detroit, which would often draw more than 10,000 visitors to their Scottish Games. Wild grapevine has made it to the second floor balcony of the gallery. To the north of the road leading from the ferry dock is a subdivision ofmini-mansions and duplexes, with an emphasis on stone and heavy on Victorian-style turrets. This is the observation area which would rise to the top. Ray was removed from the boat because she was not white, enforced according to a Bob-Lo company policy "excluding so-called 'zoot-suiters', the rowdyish, the rough, and the boisterous, and it also adopted the policy of excluding colored. A sign leads residents and visitors to dining venues and the marina on Boblo Island. Now surrounded by tall grass and weeds, the park's historic entertainment theater remains near the center of the island. Did you work on both the SS Ste. Unclaimed. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Not fair to blame millionaires when often it is a corporation that can run out money after 5 or 6 bad years. For more excitement there was the Whip, Wild Mouse, Tilt-a-Whirl, and Dodgeem Cars. Although there was a bike rental business near the marina and Beach House Restaurant on the west side of the island (the ferry dock is on the east side of the island), it was not open for business on the beautiful summer weekend day I was there, so I wouldnt count on being able to rent a bike on the island. Please dont judge us without knowing us! Michelle, I interpret Roys use of the phrase mega-millionaires as being in service of describing the island developers, not the residents. The bike rental shop was closed, but you can check your weight for free. The control room area through broken glass. I found this very useful for Information! If it wasnt for him to have done that for everyone, our world would never have known how peaceful, relaxing, fun, and most of all memorable a park could be. Here are some of the homes and what life is like on Boblo Island today. In 1993, after nearly 100 years in the business of entertainment, it was decided that the park was to be closed. Bob-Lo was such a fun place and figures so prominently in many peoples childhood summertime memories! Boblo officially closed in 1993. Following the war, British forces garrisoned at Fort Malden in Amherstburg, across the river from Bois Blanc, and strengthened their position by building three blockhouses on the island. Author: Michael R Stoller Jr CC BY-ND 2.0 Though not all is lost. why did boblo island close. You can visit the island now, as I did in July of 2011 (all the photos accompanying the blog posting above were taken on that visit), by taking a small car ferry across a narrow strip of the Detroit River from the Bob-Lo Discovery Centre in Amherstburg, Ontario. My most vivid memory is the Sky Diver ride. From the top deck of the SS St. Claire, passengers watch the SS Columbia (built in 1902). How I recall the fun times of going to Bob-Lo, with my sisters and brother. We live on the east shore of Grosse Ile, we would love to take our boat to eat at the restaurant. By their very nature, amusement parks are places of fun, relaxation, excitement, and recreation. It's just a stone's throw from historic Amherstburg, Ontario, which is a 30-minute drive from Windsor. You can also see the large stage and the curtain with big holes in it. - Marva, I am 63 years old and I remember Bob-lo so well. Over four decades, later, on July 30, 2011, I spent an afternoon on Bob-Lo. Kathi. The biggest surprise during my visit to Bob-Lo came from a different sort of stranger than the type Id been envisioning when I was watching the girls swim in the river. . [28] However, a local housing slump meant little was developed. 11 Properties from $2,300. Plant life around the old Space Needle observation tower. A retreat for the wealthy, amidst dilapidated remnants of history and ghosts of the past, with nature ever encroaching. The Ste. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Mike! What did you do? Boblo Island Amusement Park is an abandoned amusement park which operated from 1898 until its closure on September 30, 1993. The Park which eventually became Boblo Amusement Park got its first ride, the 178 48-animal Mangels-Illions Carousel. [27] Dominic Amicone became the new owner in 2005. Just read one of the many postcards you can find online from people back in the day. What I remember about Bob-Lo Island specifically, the entrance coming off of the boat, one of the last times I went the Simpsons were the mascots and I met Bart and Homer. There is a dock at the restaurant on the island, Sue. Edit: I hope it's just a tracker issue but it seemed to be working fine. Officially, Bob-Lo Island is now billed as a Marina Resort Community, but Bob-Lo currently exhibits the most profound split personality of any islandperhaps any placeIve ever been. . 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. For more than 85 years, the Boblo Island Amusement Park was famous for being served by the Steamer Ste Claire and the Steamer Columbia excursion boats that could hold about 2,500 passengers each. A shack which held dynamite used for dredging the near-by channel was fired into by a group of boys out hunting or fishing. Copyright 2023 ClickOnDetroit.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. Anyone remember how much fun the dance floor was and how beautiful the boats were. Boblo's miniature railroad was perfect for those interested in something more leisurely than the island's rollercoaster. The park opened in 1898 and closed its doors for good on September 30th,1993 as a result of poor management, rising maintenance costs and declining attendance thanks to more attractive parks in the region like Cedar Point. Copyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved. I wouldnt identify the owners in this suburban retreat as millionaires, but the island has been many things to many people over the centuries: the Ojibwe, the Ottawa, the Potawatomi, and the Wyandot all used the island before it was christened Bois Blanc. Later it was: a camp for European explorers, the site of a French Catholic mission, within reach of a British fort, headquarters for the Shawnee chief Tecumseh during the War of 1812, an invasion site for Canadian patriots during the Upper Canada Rebellion, and more recently, a picnic spot and a dance venue, all before the rise and decline of the amusement park. Comments Off on why did boblo island close; June 9, 2022; why did boblo island close I can forward them to you if you would like. I grew up visiting the island and Im hoping to return to explore it again someday. What a wonderful goal, Andrew! Series: DOCUMERICA: The Environmental Protection Agency's Program to Photographically Document Subjects of Environmental Concern, 1972 - 1977, via National Archives and Records Administration, Photo: Courtesy of the Detroit Historical Society, A glass blower puts on a demonstration in the craftsmen's area - 1970s, A child takes a spin on a ride at Boblo Island - 1970s. Today the community on this island is known as the Marina Resort Community. (Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com). [2], Though it was not looking for a buyer, the Michigan AAA sold Boblo Island in 1988 to the International Broadcasting Corporation, a Minneapolis-based concern that owned the Harlem Globetrotters and Ice Capades. For many people the best ride of the day was on the Bob-Lo Boat that took visitors to the island. The dock is gone and the passageway is mostly surrounded by weeds and overgrown grass. Can you go over to the island any time? All rights reserved (About Us). So when we went to the Island, we took a cab to the downtown docks to catch the first boat out and then we would return on the last boat. On that visit, the very air between the Wild Mouse and the Whip was fraught with hormones dancing to a Top Ten soundtrack which included Sitting on the Dock of the Bay and Grazing in the Grass.. [14], The 1993 season proved bumpy and was marred by miscues including disputes with island residents and the Canadian Coast Guard, compounded by the leader of Enchanted Parks, Michael Moodenbaugh, being seriously injured and breaking his spine in a car accident in Toledo, Ohio, in September. Boblo Island Amusement Park had its own custom version of bumper cars, known as Boblos Scootaboats. The existence of such an organization would certainly be complicated by the facts that 1) Bob-Lo is a Canadian island with an overbearing American past, and 2) today Bob-Lo primarily serves asa retreat for the wealthy, who I can imagine would not want people coming to visit the historical remains there,any more than they would want hunters (although if theyown a cat or a small dog, the latter might be welcome if they could take care of the coyote population). Colorful adirondack chairs surround a campfire pit near Captain Bob's. The Boblo Island Detroit dock building can be seen on the Detroit, Michigan side of the Detroit River. The old Dance Hall sits majestically abandoned on the center of the island. A combined force of British and Native American soldiers in canoes surprised and overpowered an American vessel en route to Detroit. Neither will my grandchildren. Why not this man who gave everyone joy in life with their families? Yes, I list http://www.boblo.ca as a source where one can get more information in my book Great Lakes Island Escapes: Ferries and Bridges to Adventure (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2016). Barb's Boblo Tavern. The Bob-Lo boats, once looked upon as part of the attraction of going on a trip to Bob-Lo were later being looked at as time wasted that could have been spent at the park. [2] After Michigan found Bob-Lo guilty and fined the company, Bob-Lo filed a lawsuit against the state, Bob-Lo Excursion Co. v. Michigan, 333 U.S. 28 (1948). You may have more than a few challenges now that people live there, but I wish you the best of luck! Parts of that tower still stand. Share. During the Rebellion of 1837, "patriots" from the U.S. invaded the island in 1838. In its early years, [1] Henry Ford financed a dance hall that was rumored to have been designed and built by famed Detroit architect Albert Kahn,[31] but was later determined to have been designed by John Scott. (LogOut/ why did boblo island close. Opened in 1898, Boblo Island was one of North America's. In 1958 the island was the site of joint Canadian-American war games, addressing a hostile force presence with amphibious units from around the Great Lakes. Without Michael's approval the park was closed, the rides sold off, dismantled and shipped away. Purchasing a home on Boblo Island? Each historical society serves as a bead on a rosary linking current and future generations to the past, acts as a tool to support prayers of keeping the memories alive, keeps a link to the human roots of a distinctive place that has meant many things to many people over the years. when was the last day of this park operated (i mean the last summur )when it was open for public for the last and until what day was the ferry or the steamer making trip, and can you visit it now. - Kathy G. We kids were able to run up and down the stairs on the boat and go to the dance floor. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). To rebuild would be one of lifes pleasures. In the ride's final incarnation, the train itself was a scale recreation of Central Pacific Railroad's 19 th century C.P. The restaurants 2013 grand opening was May 24th. The 16mm film is from around 1960. 559 gold coast 777777 w We toured the Ste Claire in 2015 while restoration efforts were ongoing before fire gutted it on July 6, 2018. The Boblo Island boat, S.S. Ste Claire, was destroyed on Friday morning after a massive fire on the ship.