DID YOU KNOW?
Broadcasting Corporation, a Minneapolis-based company that owned the Harlem Globetrotters and Ice Capades, which declared bankruptcy 3 years later in 1991.
On one of the rides, I mentioned above, you will find that Boblo's Scootaboats, which were very similar to well-known Bumper Cars, was a popular ride on the water, unlike the bumper car which was on a hard surface. The cars and boats are operated by drawing power from an overhead electric grid, unlike the Bumper Boats in-use today.
Anyway, Boblo Island Amusement Park is now abandoned, which operated from 1898 until its closure on September 30, 1993. The park was located on Bois Blanc Island, Ontario, just above the mouth of the Detroit River, where in 1974 it was averaging over 800,000 visitors per year. The people of Detroit characterized it as the city's Coney Island.
Now, you will find that this attraction has some bad stories attached to it that I never knew about as a kid, and if you research the whole history of this attraction, you can see its complete history, plus in the final years of this attraction were so sad to hear about because of the memories that so many people like myself experienced.
Anyway, AAA of Michigan sold Boblo Island in 1988 to the International
The Park Entrance once you
disembark off the boat
Detroit Boblo Dock
Now, the boats were sold off because of a decision to shutter operations at the Detroit dock. In February 1992, the park was put up for sale for 9 million, half of its 1988 purchase price, though it committed to opening it for that summer. However, one expert felt that Boblo was too big to fail outright and could be turned around. So, by June however, no firm offers had been made for the park. The loss of the Detroit ferry service dented attendance severely in the 1992 season, which along with poor weather caused the park to miss its attendance goal.
With no buyers materializing, Norton Auctioneers of Coldwater, Michigan, was retained to sell the property at auction on February 10, 1993. Roger Fachini, a 40-