02/08/08 — Although the historic Dreamland Ballroom, maintenance building and seven adjacent midway buildings at Conneaut Lake Park were destroyed a week ago, the fire didn’t destroy all of the 116-year-old amusement park’s ride motors, as previously believed.
Only three of the motors were destroyed in last Friday’s blaze. The rest weren’t in the maintenance building, weren’t affected by the fire and are in other locations, according to a source who asked not to be identified.
George Deshner, manager of Conneaut Lake Park, said there were motors in the building, but he was uncertain how many. Some were spares, he said. The motor for the Blue Streak roller coaster wasn’t affected as it’s too heavy to be moved into the maintenance building.
That means if the board had the money and chose to open the rides, the motors for nearly all of the approximately 30 rides are available.
In the meantime, the Trustees of Conneaut Lake Park are proceeding with plans for demolition of the fire debris, according to Jack Moyers, chairman of the trustees. He said the Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal released the property after completing his inspection Monday and ruling the cause as undetermined.
Moyers said trustees are moving ahead with plans for cleanup of the remaining debris. Initial cost was estimated at $100,000, but now Deshner and Moyers believe it may only be about $60,000. The trustees had no fire insurance on the buildings or their contents.
Moyers said the board continues to work toward opening some of the financially-troubled park, with initial plans to open the Beach Club, Camperland and the docks.
However, he said, those are preliminary plans, and the board needs to find funding to do that. The park’s current debt is more than $2.7 million.
Although the value of Dreamland Ballroom and the midway stands is priceless in terms of memories, the actual assessed value, according to county records, is only $25,687. That translates to a tax bill of $1,759.04 for those parcels, a cost that would not be due next year.
Local News
Majority of rides' motors not destroyed in fire
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