Amusing the Zillion

Coming to Coney Island: Water Flume Ride from Seattle’s Fun Forest

May 2, 2010 by Tricia

Fun Forest Park 2007: Wild River Aerial View. Photo © Godzilla40 via flickr

Do you miss Neptune’s Water Flume, which was dismantled when Astroland closed in 2008? The log flume was one of our faves too and we treasure the fading souvenir photo from our last ride. The good news is a Reverchon flume will be among the 19 rides at Coney Island’s new Luna Park this summer. The ride was purchased from Seattle’s Fun Forest Park and will be the only used ride in the park according to a poster on the ultimaterollercoaster forum.

Wild River Close-Up. Photo © Godzilla40 via flickr

The photos above and below show the flume in Fun Forest Park with the Experience Music Project building in the background. Fun Forest was created at the base of Seattle’s Space Needle after the 1962 World’s Fair, but the park’s operators lost their lease on the city-owned property and will close after Labor Day 2010. The park’s biggest rides have already been dismantled and sold.

Roller Coasters of the Pacific Northwest reports that the Windstorm roller coaster was sold to Steve Vandervorste (an independent ride operator based in Texas); the log flume to Zamperla; the Orbiter, Jet Spin and Himalaya to Butler Amusements; the Galleon to Oscar’s Amusements of Pennsylvania; and the Century Wheel to Helm and Sons of California.

As we wrote in an article about Astroland for IAAPA Funworld in 2004, Neptune’s Water Flume was one of Astroland’s most popular rides. Mark Blumenthal, the park’s operations manager said, “It was one of the early flumes made by Arrow Development in the early 1960s, right after the New York World’s Fair, and it was built specifically for this park.”

We’re thrilled that Fun Forest’s Wild River has found a new home in Coney Island. Seattleites visiting New York City this summer are especially welcome to come to the new Luna Park and cool off on their flume!

Wild River flume ride at Fun Forest Amusement Park. Photo © M.V. Jantzen via flickr

Wild River by M.V.Jantzen, using a Creative Commons License

Can You Identify This Mystery Object at Coney Island’s Luna Park?

April 30, 2010 by Tricia

Birth of Luna Park Set. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Photographer Bruce Handy, who has been chronicling the Birth of Luna Park, says the first shipping containers arrived from Italy on Monday. What is the unidentified red object in the photo? Could it be a footing for the Tickler roller coaster that we wrote about the other day? Or is it part of another Zamperla ride? Or the base of one of the towers? If you have an idea, please post a comment. As soon as we find out the correct answer, we’ll let you know. The virtual tour of Luna Park on YouTube may provide some clues!

UPDATE May 5, 2010:

A big thank you to boltz, who found out the “mystery object” is the center of the Wave Blaster, which Zamperla’s website describes as a “teen-ager version of the Jump Around. Considering the great success that all these ‘Jumper rides’ are having, Zamperla has further developed this design and is proposing the Wave Blaster with 12 arms for a total capacity of 24 seats.”

Birth of Luna Park Set. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Photo of the Day: Interior of Coney Island’s Doomed Henderson Music Hall

April 29, 2010 by Tricia

Velocity Nightclub in the Henderson Building, 2007. Photo © Charles Denson

This is the seldom-seen interior of the Henderson Building, which Thor Equities has announced plans to demolish and replace with a one-story shopping mall. Is this building “structurally questionable and potentially dangerous” as Thor’s press release claims? We don’t think so, nor does Save Coney Island, which issued their own press release today condemning Thor’s plan to demolish the Henderson, Grashorn and Bank of Coney Island buildings as well as the Shore Hotel.

“Thor’s demolition plan would destroy Coney Island’s history and undermine its unique appeal,” said Save Coney Island spokesman Juan Rivero. “It is a short-sighted squandering of the tremendous potential of these buildings to provide a distinctive Coney Island experience.”

The Velocity Nightclub occupied the second floor on the Bowery side of the former Henderson Music Hall until Thor bought the building and evicted them. “The second floor is completely renovated with original brick and steel exposed. It was the balcony of the theater,” says historian Charles Denson, author of Coney Island Lost & Found.

Vintage Postcard of Henderson's Music Hall Stage in Coney Island. Cezar Del Valle Collection

As we noted in February, the Henderson Music Hall was nominated for landmark designation by Coney Island USA, but has yet to be calendared by the City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. Its chances are thought to be slim since the building has been altered extensively. It was even cut in half! There’s also the unfortunate fact that the Henderson is owned by real estate speculator Joe Sitt of Thor Equities and occupies a prime site at the corner of Surf and Stillwell that has been rezoned for a high rise hotel. City rezoning documents detail the history of the Henderson Music Hall:

Fred Henderson opened the 3-story brick music hall on Stillwell Avenue at the Bowery around 1900. Henderson’s establishment began as a restaurant at Bowery and Henderson Walk in 1881. When that building burned in 1899, Henderson constructed the new structure to the designs of John B. McElfatrick. The original Italianate southern façade (which fronts on the Bowery) has brick piers, corbelling, stone window lintels, and a bracketed cornice. In 1923, Stillwell Avenue south of Surf Avenue was created by the widening of Stratton’s Walk, and Henderson’s Music Hall was cut in half. At that time, a new brick façade with decorative panels and a stepped parapet was added to the Stillwell Avenue frontage. Additional alterations include modern storefronts and replaced windows. The music hall operated until 1926 and featured such music and vaudeville acts as Al Jolson, the Marx Brothers, and Sophie Tucker. During its run, Henderson’s Music Hall was an important Coney Island entertainment venue. From 1926 to 1984, the building housed the World of Wax Musee. The former Henderson’s Music Hall has been extensively altered. This property was identified in the inventory of potential resources prepared by Coney Island USA.