Jody Victor : Chippewa Lake Park was an amusement park once located in Chippewa Lake, Ohio, Medina County. It operated from 1878 through 1978, after the final owner, Continental Business Enterprises closed it due to lack of attendance. After the park's closure, its rides and structures were left largely untouched and unmaintained for the next 31 years.
In 1875, Edward Andrews organized a picnic ground and beach under the name Andrew's Pleasure Grounds. The park operated with some success, but its condition deteriorated, partly accountable to alcohol sales within park grounds. With the addition of a steam boat and the park's first roller coaster, the amusement park was brought to life. The initial roller coaster had to be manually pushed up the track following each ride.
Mac Beach acquired Chippewa Lake in 1898 and improved the park immensely, beginning with a ban on liquor sales. Mac's son, Parker Beach, managed the park during its boom years, the roaring '20s. During that decade, the first modern coaster was built at the park, designed by Fred Pearce. Originally named the Big Dipper, it became better known as simply 'the coaster'. The park also featured a live band-stand seven nights a week.
The Beach family kept the park running successfully into the 1960s. Eventually Chippewa Lake would feature three roller coasters, flying cages, a Ferris wheel, carousel, Tumble Bug, ballroom and many other rides.
Chippewa Lake was acquired by Continental Business Enterprises in 1969, and closed in 1978 while under their ownership, owing to factors like competition from nearby Cedar Point and Geauga Lake amusement parks.
After the park's closure in 1978, the land the park was situated on was left largely untouched. By the 2000s, large trees were growing through rides like the Coaster and the park's Ferris wheel, and several buildings had collapsed or been damaged by the effects of the elements.
About 4:00 PM on Thursday, June13, 2002, the Chippewa Lake Park Ballroom burned down. By 2008, several other buildings had suffered the ballroom's fate, including the hotel, arcade, fun house, peanut stand, and maintenance building, all of which had been damaged or destroyed by fire. However, other rides and structures still stood, in various states of disrepair. These included the Big Dipper Coaster, the Wild Mouse coaster, the Little Dipper coaster, the Tumble Bug, and the frames of the Ferris Wheels and Flying Cages. Most other buildings across the park were in various states of collapse due to 30 years of neglect by this time.
In 2008, thirty years after the park's closure, the land the amusement park stood on was offered up for sale with an asking price of $3,500,000, and, according to the realtor's website, was sold. On September 9, 2008, Chippewa Partners LLC announced plans for a development on the site called "Chippewa Landing" which would include a hotel and spa, fitness center, restaurants, a conference and music center, small shops and other entertainment venues, expected to be completed sometime in 2010.
We could be looking forward to a another nice place to visit in Ohio!