DID YOU KNOW?
Anyway, beginning in 1952, Joe Short, a man of diminutive physical stature, was employed as 'Captain Boblo', and traveled on the boats entertaining passengers of all ages. 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. He previously worked for Ringling Brothers Circus and
Anyway, not a single lot was sold between 9/11/01 and May 2004. $19 million in debt, John's brother Randy forced Boblo Island into court-appointed receivership in 2004. KPMG found there was no money left to continue supplying basic services. Dominic Amicone became the new owner in 2005. However, a local housing slump meant little was developed. Then by 2021, the tower for the Space Needle ride was demolished for safety concerns.
Now, in its early years, Henry Ford financed a dance hall. The dance hall was the second largest in the world, holding 5,000 dancers at full capacity, and featured one of the world's largest orchestrions from the Welte company: a 16-foot tall, 14-foot wide, self-playing Wotan-model orchestrion with 419 pipes and percussion section.
The SS Ste. Claire on Fire
captivated children with adventurous tales and knock-knock jokes until his retirement in 1974, at the age of 90. After the boats docked at night back in Detroit, Mr. Short continued entertaining at the local bars and taverns he frequented.
Now, you may have heard about this next story on the local news. The SS Ste. Claire was engulfed in an accidental fire while docked on the Detroit River on July 6, 2018. The fire could not be contained and destroyed the historic mahogany woodwork and upper decks.
There is the latest update as of 2023. They are currently working on getting the last deck completed. The plans are to have the entire fourth deck done by the end of September 2023. The final addition will be the pilot house, either in the Fall of 2023 or Spring 2024. They have the original blueprints and will recreate them with the walkways that were on both sides of the pilot house.
Now, in the Spring, they will turn the main deck into a museum loaded with dozens of artifacts and historical pieces they have collected over the years, as well as a souvenir stand with new items. They want to give people a chance to come down and walk the decks, reminisce, and see what their plans are for the future.
After seeing the pictures of the fire, it is amazing that they even saved the SS Ste Claire at all, plus for someone like me and others, I wish they did not sold the SS Columbia to someone in New York, because I for one would have liked to see these 2 boats ferrying people down the river again, instead of a docked museum only. I hope you enjoyed this article about this great attraction from the past that I have been to many times in my youth. Down below is a 22-minute video about this attraction.