by Ken Lahmers, Aurora Advocate editor
Many older residents of Northeast Ohio probably remember riding the Wild Mouse at Geauga Lake. That would have been prior to the mid to late 1960s.
About that time it was moved to Chippewa Lake Park in southern Medina County.
It operated there until the park closed after the 1978 season when its owner -- Continental Business En-terprises -- decided it was no longer feasible to keep it open.
Unlike Geauga Lake Park, which Cedar Fair Entertainment has almost totally dismantled only a year after it was shut down, Chippewa Lake Park's buildings and rides were left standing.
And many of them are still standing -- in various states of disrepair -- as nature has reclaimed the 95-acre park. Many buildings have collapsed and some, including the Starlight Ballroom, have burned down.
But time is about up for the rides and buildings that are still standing. A group of land development partners, including Gary Sills, plans to clear the site in the next few months.
The developers want to build an 80-acre complex called Chippewa Landing, which would include a resort hotel, restaurants, conference/music center, shops, entertainment venues and a health/wellness center.
Seeing it one last time
Hearing about the future of the land, I made arrangements with Sills to walk the site, and did so recently with Aurora Ward 1 Councilman Jim Vaca, who recalls riding Chippewa's Wild Mouse when it was at Geauga Lake.
We drove over to Medina County on Nov. 6, one of the last warm and pleasant days of autumn. The site is just west of Interstate 76 and just north of Route 224.
A nostalgic feeling came over me as we walked down the once-bustling but now overgrown midway and various thoroughfares past some of the rides, attractions and buildings which have survived.
In my mind, I could see youngsters eating cotton candy, hear roller coaster riders screaming and big band music playing, and smell french fries cooking.
Many of the small concession stands are mere shells -- some even left behind the grills used to prepare food. Rotting picnic tables dot the property.
Most of the old wooden coaster called the Big Dipper, which dates to 1924, still stands, although portions of the track and support structure are falling to the ground.
Trees are now poking up through the track, and a few sections have been flattened when large trees fell on them.
Remnants of the Wild Mouse are visible, as are tracks from the miniature railroad. Although the Mouse didn't go fast, riders were shoved to the left or right by gravity as it rounded several 90-degree turns.
A Ferris wheel rises above the ground. The only thing keeping it from toppling over are trees growing up through its frame and spokes. It once sported 12 cages, none of which remain.
A miniature golf course is overgrown with weeds, the frame of the Flying Cages remains, a former Grand Truck Railroad wooden caboose is intact but rotting fast, and cottages stand on the perimeter of the land.
The concrete floor and some twisted steel is all that's left of the Starlight Ballroom, which burned to the ground June 13, 2002, reportedly the victim of arsonists/vandals.
We explored the Burger Factory, a large building with a terrace which once looked down on a main walkway; the rusting Tom Sawyer paddlewheeler, which once plied the lake; and the stone pier jutting out into the lake.
Although its walls still stand, the roof of the Fun House has collapsed into the interior and one end appears not to have much time before it falls into the mess of broken up timber.
An old pavilion along the lake, apparently built later in the park's life, is not in as horrendous of shape as some buildings. There are holes in the roof and some decent-looking bleachers underneath.
The base of the AeroPlanes ride, cars of which swung out over the water, is still on the shore. An outdoor stage where live music was performed is rotting and its back wall is covered with graffiti. There's even a rotting old piano there.
The only ride from which cars have been left behind is The Bug (erected in 1927), which traveled in a circle on an up-and-down track. Four cars set on the rusting track.
Except for a few motorized tools being used by adjacent property owners, the place was quiet, with birds chirping. Many "no trespassing," "danger: unsafe buildings" and "keep out" signs are posted.
Some Chippewa history
At 385 acres, Chippewa Lake is said to be Ohio's largest spring-fed lake. It was created by the receding of glaciers more than 12,000 years ago. Like many Ohio amusement parks, Chippewa grew up on the shores of the lake, with its origins going back to 1875.
Edward Andrews organized the first official picnic grounds and beach under the name Andrews Pleasure Grounds.
The first amusement attractions on the grounds were built in 1878, and the park shut down exactly 100 years later.
In the 1880s, Andrews added a tourist steamboat called Miss Chippewa and erected the first primitive coaster, which had one car.
Mac Beach took over the park in 1898 and erected a carousel. Starting in the 1920s, his son Parker managed the park, then bought it in the mid-1930s and sold it in 1969.
Chippewa's Big Dipper was designed by John Miller, the same guy who designed Geauga Lake's Big Dipper. Both are the out-and-back type.
In its heyday, the park operated a bandstand seven nights a week, and in addition to the items previously mentioned, had a carousel, Dodgem cars and kiddie coaster -- similar to those at other parks.
The carousel and Dodgem car buildings have collapsed, but are still visible, as is the track of the kiddie coaster.
The ballroom was built in 1920. Its burning followed the demise of the hotel, a huge picnic shelter built out from the lakeshore and arcade. The ballroom's twisted steel beams are visible not far from the park's main entrance.
The ballroom could accommodate more than 5,000 people, and its motto was "Dancing Every Night." Lawrence Welk conducted his first major audio broadcast from there in 1937.
As an aside, the Dreamland Ballroom at Conneaut Lake Park west of Meadville, Pa., burned down Feb. 1 of this year. It was built in 1909.
E-mail: klahmers@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3155