The middle section of the island was developed as a park. With a blast of the big steam whistle, lines were cast off, and the 20-mile voyage began, taking about 80 minutes. The park's coasters and rides were sold following its closing in 1993, but there are intriguing remnants. He had hoped to build a bridge to Bob-Lo to eliminate the inconvenience of the boat rides, but he did not realize (or appreciate) that Bob-Lo Island was across an international border from Michigan. He wore a variety of colorful clothing, including a large hat with 'Captain Bob Lo' on the peak, and was typically equipped with binoculars for navigation purposes. The Nightmare (ride), Falling Star, Wild Mouse, Sky Streak and Screamer were the signature rides. As one can use motor vehicles only in the northern residential tip of the island, if you plan to explore the island, you may want to bring a bike with you. The Boblo boat took passengers on an 18-mile cruise down the Detroit river to Boblo Island Amusement Park. The remnants of Boblo Island Amusement Park: Big changes for Sugar Island, good changes-it has made the drinking & partying boating groups unable to overtake the island.It was not safe. Its amusement rides were sold in 1994. An island in Amherstburg, Ont. Bob-Lo Park (Sometimes seen as Boblo) was established as an entertainment destination in 1898 by the Detroit,Belle Isleand Windsor Ferry Company. Its amusement rides were sold in 1994. If I had mega-millions I would invest in restoration of the island and the amusement park. You know what I think, I have never been over there. My most vivid memory is the Sky Diver ride. The place is oozing history. Plant life around the old Space Needle observation tower. By each step it became more clear that this was left for dead a long time ago. They created a destination to keep themselves busy on the weekend. steeped in history is open for business. You can take a tour of the model homes on Boblo Island on Saturdays and Sundays with an island specialist by calling 519-736-1111. The island has quite an interesting history. As I have written to the owner of the company that bought the island: You have no idea how much Boblo Island Amusement Park was to our society. Kathi. 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. Interestingly, the islands history starts long before the amusement park was even planned. This is actually only about half of the full-size basement which has been fitted with windows and electricity for add-on bedrooms. The Whip was installed in 1920, which was a huge hit, essentially paying for itself. Morale among the employees both on the Boats and the Island was at an all-time low according to some veteran workers. Colorful picnic tables near Captain Bob's Ice Cream & Coffee Cabin. All the passengers who had purchased round-trip tickets were comfortably aboardall, that is, but one. I can only imagine the dangers of the dilapidated buildings, to say nothing of concerns about strangers. Its entrance is at Vernon Boulevard and Main Street in Astoria. The north side of Boblo is a growing private community, with numerous homes and condominiums. 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. [32], Boblo's Scootaboats, which were very similar to well known Bumper Cars, were a popular ride. After coming aboard, visitors could look down from the main deck into the engine room, where powerful shafts and cams slowly warmed up. 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. Parts of that tower still stand. For the people who bought property thereyou bought land that was so important to the neighboring cities and had brought so many families together. I was 7 years old when the ferries stopped running in 1991. There were several trips from Detroit each day, but only two stops in Wyandotte. By Edward Pevos of MLive - epevos@MLive.com. With probably more than a bit of clean-up and reconstruction, it would make a wonderful venue for a wedding reception!!! 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. This is a small area of the white sand beach open to residents of Boblo Island. Colorful adirondack chairs surround a campfire pit near Captain Bob's. The SS Ste. [20] Oram then leased and shut down the White Sands boater's hangout adjacent to the park site, citing trespassers but infuriating boaters; as a result, the lease was dropped within weeks. It is completely grown over with weeds and trees. Boblo Island now boasts deluxe houses and condos, valued from $184,000 to $1.15 million, with walk-out basements and turreted views of the Detroit River. The Bobl-Lo Island of today? A retreat for the wealthy, amidst dilapidated remnants of history and ghosts of the past, with nature ever encroaching. "We are at the point in restoration to where it was a steel skeleton structure ready to be rebuilt." Not one thing mentioned on the dance hall being 100 years old this year. The first amusement park rides were moving by 1910. There are no hotels. 272 acres. Would love to know more about your experience working on the Bob-Lo boats. My husband is on the Grosse Ile Historical Society BoardI have pictures of Sugar Island in its heyday. The only other way to get to the island is to dock a private boat. It runs every 20 minutes, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at a fee of $10 each way. The men's entrance is to the left. One to pick up, and one to return people. The ferry runs every 20 minutes, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. There are just two ways in and out of the island. I dont know about draft/depth info or dock fees, not being a boater, myself, and having instead taken the ferry from Amherstburg, Ontario. Even the words scrawled across its portal announced simply "Eastwood Park.". Your email address will not be published. Each boat could hold about 2,500 passengers. "I have all the amenities of city life that I need within walking distance in Amherstburg, and all the amazing amenities the island life brings me.". The restaurant is open to residents and visitors Thursday through Sunday. The little that remains of the park is covered with vegetation or has been demolished. When was the last time yousailed down the Detroit River toBob-Lo Island, to summertime? One of those blockhouses remains, and is open for touring. The park has been closed since 1993 DETROIT - Say the name "Boblo" to anyone who grew up around Michigan, and their eyes will light up. Here are some of the homes and what life is like on Boblo Island today. If youre interested, check out Patrick Livingstons book Summer Dreams: The Story of Bob-Lo Island, published by Wayne State University Press in 2008. Many years later, the ferries were sold but the service was continued by a number of different, smaller boats. How to rent hobbit-type MUSHROOM HOUSES in Northern Michigan, Haunting insides of the abandoned NORTHVILLE PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL, See Michigan's only ALPINE MOUNTAIN SLIDE, 1,700 feet of fun, Inside Michigan's OLDEST OPERATING INN built in 1835, This may be the MOST PICTURESQUE spot in Michigan, Inside the SMITHSONIAN OF MAGIC, located in Michigan, We explored WARREN DUNES, the Sleeping Bear of Southwest MI, GoPro video riding MICHIGAN'S LONGEST ZIPLINE, Exploring Michigan's abandoned, haunted ELOISE ASYLUM, Country's LARGEST AUTO MUSEUM is in the middle of nowhere, Michigan. This amusement park, while once the delight of both kids and adults until the early 90s, has been abandoned for more than two decades. 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. "It's not the exact layout of Boblo Island," Kevin says in the documentary. The island is mainly a place where people can live in serenity. (From 2018: Old Boblo Island boat catches fire at Detroit marina), BOBLO BOAT TOUR: Take a video tour of the historic boat that traveled the Detroit River for 81 years. The amusement park was so famous in its day that Henry Ford himself provided money for a Dance Hall to be built, designed by the architect John Scott. It was a terrible idea to put a roller coaster in there. Plus it was a place where the 400-pipe, 4-meter high, self-playing orchestra was housed. . It was great to see all the vintage photos and stories from the good old days of classic boating when wooden boats were the norm, not the exception. After 85 years of operation, these two sister steamships - the oldest in America - awaken from a deep slumber to find a devoted team of enthusiasts have set out to rescue them from their deteriorating state. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Theme parks, like Lake Shawnee Park in West Virginia, closed down after guests died at the park. One such an example is Boblo Island Amusement Park initially opened on Bois Blanc Island in Ontario in 1898. Visiters to the marina can visit the small gallery of photographs and paintings of water scenes or rent bikes to explore the island (although what appeared to be the bike rental building was closed on this July Saturday, so perhaps not). In 1991, those boats were sold and smaller ferries took people from Gibraltar, Mich., to the island, as well as Amherstburg. - Marva, I am 63 years old and I remember Bob-lo so well. The 375-foot Sky Tower, rusting and visible from the Powerhouse and most of the island, as well as from other locations on the river like Grosse Ile: And a few other buildings, like the open one that may have housed the dodgem cars built in 1928, and another with more shattered windows, the Souvenir building. [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. The juvenile coyote was gone in another blink of the eye. Since the amusement park's closure, Boblo Island has been renovated for luxury homes. [1] Other smaller ferries served the park from Amherstburg and Gibraltar, Michigan, which were located closer to the park on the Detroit River. Anyone can go on the island via the ferry for a fee of $10 round-trip, but Boblo isn't a typical tourist destination. I loved going there as it was much smaller than Cedar Point so riding the rides didnt take so long. Rides, music, thrills, and lights attracted thousands of visitors year after year. Once known as Bois Blanc Island, Boblo lies on the Detroit River on the Canadian side. See more ideas about island, amusement park, boblo boat. In June of 1999 Oram announced that he wished to recreate the amusement park on the mainland near Amherstburg, Ontario. This is the structure that once housed the Boblo Island Amusement Park bumper cars. . The island is 2.5 miles long and a half-mile wide - just 272 acres. One cant imagine a happy centennial celebration for this historic building . Or for the Lavatory building next to it, built to match the other stone buildings on the island. Today the community on this island is known as the Marina Resort Community. It had e. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Bois Blanc has been part of Canada since 1787. It was just announced in The Windsor Star that the dance pavilion is now for sale. To get to Bob-Lo Islandin the 21st century, you takea ferry from Amherstburg, Ontario, instead of from the old dock on Jefferson Avenuein Detroit. It is not fair that these people can just take away the little bit of history we have left just so they can watch their bank accounts rise. The last screams of joy could be heard from the little island of fun 25 years ago as the Cedar Point of Michigan closed for the final time. Over the years it grew into a unique island amusement park, with a midway and dozens of rides. One such an example is Boblo Island Amusement Park initially opened on Bois Blanc Island in Ontario in 1898. Boblo Island today: Along with homes, there are also property lots for sale in which people can build homes on. 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. My husband is from I was born and raised in Wyandotte, Michigan. What remains of the boat after the fire is currently docked at Riverside Marina in Detroit. I know the kids and people of this generation are definitely looking forward to more developments. (Check out more Boblo history at BobloSteamers.com), Alex Atwell put together an awesome tour of the Ste. These steamers are the oldest passenger steamers in the United States of America, currently anchored at the Great Lakes Steel Dock in Ecorse, Michigan. More than a century later, in the 1920s, the amusement park opened on the sitethen closed in 1966 after the accidental deaths of two young patrons, including one on the spooky circular swing. Check out recent photos from one of the Boblo boats. On June 21, 1945, the steamer Columbia blew its whistle and left the Detroit dock to make the eighteen-mile trip to the Bob-Lo Island Amusement Park. Clair and the SS Columbia. I am only 12. This is private property and the doors are chain locked. The 1878 Mangels-Illions Carousels 44 horses, two goats, and two deer were sold for more than $1 million. Why not this man who gave everyone joy in life with their families? And I stood and looked across the river, and what I remember is no longer there, and Im 54 years old . It's docked in New York. - Brandon, I am 73 years old and remember my parents taking me to Bob-Lo after picking me up at Willow Run Airport after a visit with relatives in Miami FL when I was 8 years old. From 1984 to 1985 there were 26 head injuries and 14 broken bones reported. The website is that of Bob-Lo Island Custom Home Builder, the developer of the Marina Resort Community, Boblos current rendition. Its a shame that Boblo Island had to close. Known as Boblo Amusement Park, it was wildly popular with American tourists throughout much of the 20th century until it closed in 1993. i need a boblo island abandoned amusement park date pic . Once the island closed, the boats sat abandoned for years. A powerhouse that supplied electricity to the nearby Carousel which is no longer there. How to get to toronto island park? It was set on Ontario's picturesque Bois Blanc Island (frequently known as "Boblo Island") and featured everything you could want in a theme park. How I recall the fun times of going to Bob-Lo, with my sisters and brother. The initial attractions of the island were . Residents of the small community live among acres and acres of nature, just steps from water. [29], The tower for the Space Needle ride was demolished in 2021, with Amicone citing "health and safety concerns". Hoffmeister and Friese had an agreement that established . The old Dance Hall sits majestically abandoned on the center of the island. Ive been talking to friends who also loved Boblo and I am going to do further study. [11] Roger Fachini, a 40-year-old engineer for General Dynamics and owner of a waterpark in Utica, Michigan, placed the winning $3.8 million bid and proposed redevelopment after two years,[12][13] but Boblo's creditors turned it down; after the deposit cheque bounced, they took $600,000 less in the bid from Enchanted Parks of Seattle, owners of the Wild Waves Theme Park near that city. A woman leans against the fence in the foreground to take a picture of the ride. He was 20 years older than me. By Not only do those who went before the park shut down in 1993 still remember it fondly; they're eager to regale you . You can also visit Boblo.ca. 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