48 replies to this topic

[mod134]

Well it looks like the days of the ruins of Rocky Point are down to the single digits. It seems imminent that the asbestos abasement will be completed and the demolition of about 40 buildings at the old park, which closed in 1996.  This is in light of arsons and vandalism, moreso the former, and to rid the city of the fire hazards.  Ultimately, I predict the two remaining significant structures - the Palladium and the Shore Diner Hall will eventually also meet the wrecking ball.    

Mark Hayward, District Director of the Small Business Administration (SBA), said the following in a recent article.
"Not only do we have these artifacts here but we've also assured that we are going to preserve all of the land to the right of Rocky Point - which is about 34 acres - the entire shoreline, as well as a piece of Rocky Beach. Despite the fact that the amusement park is no longer there, Rocky Point and our memory and certainly the history of Rocky Point will always survive."

Full Story

While I certainly share Mr. Hayward and the general collective sentiment to preserve the park's history, I predict that it will all be forgotten in favor of the all mighty dollar and condominiums on the waterfront site.  Scenic Warwick Neck will lose a potentially important site for the public's use.  

Regardless, I'm going to try my mischevous/preservationist skills to the test if all goes well by making one last trip down to what once was America's second-oldest amusement park  .

It's been a long-time coming - the removal of the last vestiges and significant tangible remnants of Captain Winslow's dream. It has been a long goodbye and a slow and utterly painful death to see the park fall further into the grips of urban decay as the sands of time erode the paintjob and structural stability of the House of Horrors' castle.

A sincere thanks to Dave, Liam, Nicole and everyone at the Rocky Point Movie project for their outstanding efforts to document one of the most important tourist attractions in the state's history. The movie is debuting on September 7th and more information can be obtained at You Must Be This Tall.

Goodbye old friend, its been a lot of fun the brief time I knew ye and thanks for 150 years and a lifetime of memories for New Englanders.

Here are some relevant clips.
Vintage Commercial

Rocky Point Movie Trailer (for You Must Be This Tall)

Edited by mod134, 11 April 2007 - 01:23 PM.

[Liamlunchtray]

Demolition starts Monday morning. I'll be there shooting - woohoo!

[ruchele]

Liamlunchtray, on May 3 2007, 08:54 AM, said:

Demolition starts Monday morning. I'll be there shooting - woohoo!

Can't wait to see this movie at a future Armory movie night!

[Liamlunchtray]

ruchele, on May 3 2007, 12:25 PM, said:

Can't wait to see this movie at a future Armory movie night!

Now THAT would be great!!!

[Cotuit]

ruchele, on May 3 2007, 12:25 PM, said:

Can't wait to see this movie at a future Armory movie night!

I'd love to see movie nights at Grant's Lot Downtown (hint Cornish/Ari hint). They could project up on that remaining building, or they have giant inflatable screens now that could be set up. Maybe on Gallery Night or on Fridays before the Open Market or Saturdays after it... Tazza could cater light snacks and drinks...

[webbage]

Dude Liam was on the radio!

[mod134]

Glad to hear Labout Liam in radioland. The demolition was the top story on channel 10, fittingly. Also, David was interviewed during the 5:30 segment.

[Liamlunchtray]

webbage, on May 7 2007, 03:26 PM, said:

Dude Liam was on the radio!

Dude! Liam is multimedia!

http://www.abc6.com/...ky_longest.html

"All cameras on the fat man in the rocky point sweatshirt!!"

I was on 6, 12, WHJJ, and WPRO. Projo interviewed me too but I havent seen them use any of it yet. not sure if it will be in tomorrows paper or not. Ch10 interviewed our director on site and then invited him back for the 5:30 in studio interview. Viva la free publicity!!

[Frankie811]

It’s the end of the line for beloved Rocky Point. http://www.projo.com...SF.33a81dd.html

[dgreco]

Liamlunchtray, on May 7 2007, 09:01 PM, said:

Dude! Liam is multimedia!

http://www.abc6.com/...ky_longest.html

"All cameras on the fat man in the rocky point sweatshirt!!"

I was on 6, 12, WHJJ, and WPRO. Projo interviewed me too but I havent seen them use any of it yet. not sure if it will be in tomorrows paper or not. Ch10 interviewed our director on site and then invited him back for the 5:30 in studio interview. Viva la free publicity!!

Did you get a lot of good footage?

[Liamlunchtray]

dgreco, on May 8 2007, 08:57 AM, said:

Did you get a lot of good footage?

It was a planned dog and pony show for the media, so the footage wasnt anything spectacular. They were planning on taking down the House of Horrors, but the permits didnt come through on time so they took down the gift shop instead. It was still totally depressing to watch. The publicity we got was tremendous though.

http://tinyurl.com/2gmy3g

Edited by Liamlunchtray, 08 May 2007 - 08:41 AM.

[dgreco]

Liamlunchtray, on May 8 2007, 10:38 AM, said:

It was a planned dog and pony show for the media, so the footage wasnt anything spectacular. They were planning on taking down the House of Horrors, but the permits didnt come through on time so they took down the gift shop instead. It was still totally depressing to watch. The publicity we got was tremendous though.

with them knocking everything down is that going to effect the movie at all?

[MadVlad]

Is this the same place the Rocky Point Palladium was located?  That sucks it's getting knocked down, I went to a bunch of shows there back in the day......

[Liamlunchtray]

dgreco, on May 8 2007, 10:40 AM, said:

with them knocking everything down is that going to effect the movie at all?

It will bring us to a closing point, but I dont know how much we will actually include in the film. We want to keep things upbeat. We'll prolly have a seperate short on the decay and demolition on the DVD release. We're doing a 2 disc set, so the feature will be on one disc and then all sorts of other odds and ends on the other. We have amassed an enormous amount of home movies and pictures and we want to make sure as much as possible gets on the DVD.

[Liamlunchtray]

We just got word that Typepad is making our blog the featured blog of the day on May 22nd. This is exciting because a) Free Publicity and B) It shows that the project has some appeal outside of RI, which is great!

[dgreco]

Liamlunchtray, on May 8 2007, 10:56 AM, said:

It will bring us to a closing point, but I dont know how much we will actually include in the film. We want to keep things upbeat. We'll prolly have a seperate short on the decay and demolition on the DVD release. We're doing a 2 disc set, so the feature will be on one disc and then all sorts of other odds and ends on the other. We have amassed an enormous amount of home movies and pictures and we want to make sure as much as possible gets on the DVD.

hope it turns out great, goodluck.

Liamlunchtray, on May 12 2007, 06:09 PM, said:

We just got word that Typepad is making our blog the featured blog of the day on May 22nd. This is exciting because a) Free Publicity and B) It shows that the project has some appeal outside of RI, which is great!

congrats.

[mod134]

Congrats on the Typepad blog of the day. You deserve it!

The latest post on the You Must Be This Tall Blog shows that the 'House of Horrors' is no more. While one of the more distinctive structures at the park, my brief encounter w/ it (early 1990s) was past the prime of this funhouse. Nevertheless, from reading the blog it looks like the demolition crew is progressing rather quickly in removing many of the Midway's buildings.  Here's hoping that the movie crew were able to get a House of Horrors car before the claw got to 'em. Blog Entry

Here's a great article about the Castle of Terror from the Laff in the Dark site: Link

Then:


Now:

Edited by mod134, 14 May 2007 - 11:34 PM.

[dgreco]

I drove by yesterday and it was my first time in a while.  To just see the entrance all faded with the fences up, it is sad.  It is really depressing to look at also, I am surprised people didn't mind having it like that.

[mod134]

Today another structure at the park fell.  The Arcade, one of the oldest structures at Rocky Point, (probably built after the Hurricane of '38 damage), became the latest structure to meet the demolition crew.

* Also to respond to an earlier post, the two remaining structures from this round of demolition will be the Palladium and the Shore Diner Hall. The rides were auctioned off, fires (suspected as arson in some cases) and vandalism destroyed several buildings over the years.  Ultimately, the remaining structures were demolished over the past few weeks.

Thanks again Liam for the 411 and I understand David was there to take care of the footage of it.

Below is a pic of the Arcade.

Edited by mod134, 21 May 2007 - 08:26 PM.

[Liamlunchtray]

mod134, on May 21 2007, 10:11 PM, said:

Today another structure at the park fell.  The Arcade, one of the oldest structures at Rocky Point, (probably built after the Hurricane of '38 damage), became the latest structure to meet the demolition crew.

* Also to respond to an earlier post, the two remaining structures from this round of demolition will be the Palladium and the Shore Diner Hall. The rides were auctioned off, fires (suspected as arson in some cases) and vandalism destroyed several buildings over the years.  Ultimately, the remaining structures were demolished over the past few weeks.

Thanks again Liam for the 411 and I understand David was there to take care of the footage of it.

Below is a pic of the Arcade.

Actually the Arcade came down this morning, but unfortunately we got there just afterwards. At this point the only things standing are the trainhouse and the corkscrew building. Everything else is in piles. Its quite the site to behold. Just giant piles 20-30' high. Rumor has it the worlds fair arch is going to another amusement park, but we dont know where yet...