or... Missed Opportunities...
1888 Carousel House and Palace Recent History
By G. DOROTHY SABATINI
June 8, 2004
In the summer of 1998, a hundred years after the carousel house within the
Palace Amusements building was constructed, a story broke of its eminent
demolition. A vast curiosity caught hold of some prior residents and visitors
to the Jersey Shore regarding this 1888 treasure.
Due to a quote in an article about the pending demolition, Asbury Park
Historical Society founder, Werner Baumgartner, was contacted by a number of
individuals who were interested in doing whatever they could to help save one
of the last pieces of the history of Asbury Park.
Greg Raymer, of Colorado, was one of the interested parties. In speaking with
Baumgartner, he said he had been in contact with the Mississippi theme park
owners who purchased the Ferris wheel from Henry Vaccaro. According to Raymer,
the park was closing and selling the Ferris wheel. It was being sold for $5,000
and the theme park had a possible purchaser willing to pay $4,000."
Raymer was a frequent visitor to the shore area, and especially to Asbury Park.
He loved the shore so much that he created a Jersey Shore themed pizza
restaurant in Colorado.
On a trip to the theme park in Mississippi where the Ferris wheel and carousel
were being dismantled and sold, he made a videotape of the still-standing
Ferris wheel, which he forwarded to Baumgartner. The Ferris wheel, along with
the original carousel, had been sold to the park in 1989. Raymer said because
the park was closing, the items needed to remove by October 30, 1998.
Another interested party, a Long Branch resident, who contacted Baumgartner
after he heard the Ferris wheel was up for sale, said he was willing to donate
$2,500 to the historical society for the repurchasing of the Ferris wheel
because he "would like to see Asbury Park have a part of its history returned."
In the meantime, an unnamed benefactor, who had serious resources, came forward
and contacted Baumgartner about saving the Ferris wheel, and possibly the
Palace Amusements building itself. Baumgartner showed the videotape Raymer made
to this businessman and he became very interested in preserving these
historical landmarks of Asbury Park.
The, aforementioned, benefactor sent representatives to the site to assess what
needed to be done in order to dismantle and pack up the Ferris wheel for
transport. After which Mr. Benefactor began serious negotiations with the
owner, Mr. Williams, to purchase the wheel. Williams informed him he also had
the original carousel up for sale. At the time, the benefactor did not want any
publicity interfering in the situation, so he asked Baumgartner not to reveal
his name, until he was able to secure the purchases.
Williams and Mr. Benefactor agreed on a purchase price for both items. Mr.
Benefactor wanted to store them at one of his properties in Monmouth County
until he could find a suitable place to erect them in Asbury Park where they
belonged. Of course, the most suitable place would be the Palace Amusements
Building. Though the fate of the building was still precarious, Mr. Benefactor
was also considering negotiating with Mr. Carabetta (owner at the time), and
the City, regarding purchasing the building.
During the first week in December 1998, Mr. William Sitar, the CEO of Sitar
Company, came forward and announced that his efforts of the previous several
months to bring Asbury Park's Ferris wheel, and carousel, back to New Jersey
had finally paid off. It took four tractor-trailers to load all the parts, and
within a week the convoy arrived in Tinton Falls with the items, where they
have been stored on the site of one of Mr. Sitar's properties, the Twin Brooks
Golf Center.
Through the combined efforts of these individuals, William Sitar, owner of a
large real estate company, as well as other businesses in NJ, Gregory Raymer,
owner of the "Boardwalk Cafe and Pizzeria," a Jersey Shore themed business in
Colorado, Werner Baumgartner, historian, and founder of the Asbury Park
Historical Society, the original Ferris Wheel and carousel, which once stood
inside the Palace Amusements building for almost 100 years returned to the
Jersey Shore, after ten years in a Mississippi Theme Park.
Speaking of the wheel, it isn't really a "Ferris" wheel. The original carousel
pavilion, a 100 foot square structure part of the Palace Amusements building,
was built to house the Kingsley St. Merry-Go-Round, in 1888 by Ernest
Schnitzler, the original proprietor of the carousel. In 1895 Schnitzler
constructed a giant vertical moving wheel and observatory. This "Round About
and Observatory" has since become known as a "Ferris" Wheel after George W.
Ferris who built the largest one in the world two years earlier for the 1893
Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
Ernest Schnitzler wanted everyone to have a chance to see the City from the
highest point possible. As the wheel went around the cars would stop at a
landing on the tower where you could get out and climb the flight of stairs to
the top of the Observatory. From this spot one could see a fabulous view of the
entire area.
According to Norman D. Anderson, author of "Ferris Wheels: an Illustrated
History", and the country's foremost authority on Ferris wheels, our wheel was
the oldest operable one (in 1998) in the United States, being patented by Mr.
Schnitzler in 1895.
Today the carousel is once again up for sale, and, ironically, the Palace
Amusements is again slated for demolition. Proving the point that history does
repeat itself.
Baumgartner says, "The ideal situation would be to preserve the Ferris wheel
and carousel for future generations to enjoy at the rightful home, the original
1888 carousel house. This could be the start of a heritage tourism destination
for Asbury Park to build upon."
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