Lincoln Park (Comet) Discussion Thread

[Simon Baynham]

Hi TPR'ers

 

There's a great book and DVD about Lincoln Park. Fascinating stuff.

 

Simon Baynham

[Moose]

I grew up going to this park. It was about 5 minutes from my house and my parents would often take us there in the evenings to ride stuff. I still drive by it from time to time and it is rather depressing.

 

The Jr. Comet was my first credit.

[screaminkid2005]

Why did Lincoln Park close? Did demolition stop due to a lack of funds?

Ballrooms are a potential open target for arsony!

 

The park closed because it owed $48,000 in taxes and $13,000 in unpaid police details. A few years ago a condo company bought the land and the parking lot was starting to be torn up, but for what ever reason stopped and the land is for sale again.

[jynx242]

Although sad, abandoned parks like this are Delightfully creepy!

 

Thanks for the photos and the info.

 

David

[TheScooterGuy]

From RideAccidents.com:

Sunday, August 17, 1986 - At Lincoln Park in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, a 27-year-old park employee was killed after falling from the Comet roller coaster. He may have been standing up. Lincoln Park closed 2 years later.

 

RIP Lincoln Park! More than 20 years of sitting neglected & deterioating is absolutely unfortunate!

[alilstronger]

As much as I HATE seeing this, it does however how a weird beauty to it. To know at one time this park filled people with joy and excitement makes me happy. I wish all of these coasters that are rotting away across the nation could be rebuilt with replicas at one park and call it Classic's Park.

[screaminkid2005]

From RideAccidents.com:

Sunday, August 17, 1986 - At Lincoln Park in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, a 27-year-old park employee was killed after falling from the Comet roller coaster. He may have been standing up. Lincoln Park closed 2 years later.

 

RIP Lincoln Park! More than 20 years of sitting neglected & deterioating is absolutely unfortunate!

 

Also the last ride of the Comet was an accident, the last car on the train jack kniffed coming to a stop and was left like that for years.

 

[RoCo]

Agreeing with so many prior comments: it's sad to see a former park fallen into total collapse, but there's also something really fascinating about them, too. Better when they're photographed on a grey, rainy day; adds to the somber creepiness. And it blows my mind that ruins like these can stand for more than 20 years...

[imawesome1124]

As much as I HATE seeing this, it does however how a weird beauty to it. To know at one time this park filled people with joy and excitement makes me happy. I wish all of these coasters that are rotting away across the nation could be rebuilt with replicas at one park and call it Classic's Park.

Amen to that good man.

[Moose]

From RideAccidents.com:

Sunday, August 17, 1986 - At Lincoln Park in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, a 27-year-old park employee was killed after falling from the Comet roller coaster. He may have been standing up. Lincoln Park closed 2 years later.

 

RIP Lincoln Park! More than 20 years of sitting neglected & deterioating is absolutely unfortunate!

 

The story that has always been told locally was that he was not only standing up, but also jumping form seat to seat. I am not sure if this is true or not.

[screaminkid2005]

^I've heard that story so many times it ridiculous! I also heard he may have been drunk, but that's also a rumor.

[screaminkid2005]

Hello everyone! I made another trip out to Lincoln Park the other day (with permission of course!) with some friends from work. I thought you guys would like some pictures of the Comet in it's current state! I hope you enjoy!

Here's a artsy shot of the Comet. I love this picture so much that it's currently the backround on my phone! =]

Here's another artsy shot!

Here's the Comet from the midway!

Under the track!

Here's the motor!!!

One of the lift hill gears!

This section of track has collopsed since my last visit!

Here's me in the fallen track!

Finally here's another peice of track on the midway!

[BiZaRpErMaN]

I still really want to go here...but it's so far away.

[screaminkid2005]

Next time you come to New Bedford I'll take you!

 

P.S. Welcome to the forums Kyle!!!

[Defcon62]

Well its finally gonna happen, The developers have filed the required permits and it seems the remains of the comet will meet the wrecking ball. m.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120509/NEWS/205090344&template=wapart If you want to see it go now, She's joining the rest of the lost coasters finally. Chunks will also be for sale after the demolition takes place.

[Myself]

^Does that include the other remains of the park? Looking at Bing Maps, there appears to be at least one flat ride still on the premises.

[Defcon62]

I'm guessing so, The article states the comet will be the last thing to come down.

[Moose]

Not sure that the area will really support more housing, but good luck to them.

[QueerRudie]

Sad to hear, but it is better than to see it sitting there dying.

 

I rode Comet back in the mid 80s, prior to the accidents that ended the parks' life, and other than it being very rough- I don't recall too much about it. The park itself had become a place for hoodlums to visit before/after getting stoned, and it had a seedy feel to it- that I recall clearly.

 

Goodbye to the Comet, may you ride on in memories.

[djcyberlegend]

To anyone who visited Lincoln Park when it was open - do any of you have any photos of the park from your visits? If so, would you mind sharing some? My wife visited that park many times as a kid and would like some memorabilia before it gets developed.

[beatle11]

Found this. Really nice quality too.

 

[noyzz]

Comet was such a classic coaster. Sad to see Lincoln Park gone! At least I had the pleasure to go there as a kid!

[jedimaster1227]

http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2012/07/11/lincoln-park-comet-rollercoaster-demolished-today-dartmouth-end-ride-nears-for-once-popular-amusement-park/Cu9dbErsZQhXzQTkBRl1FL/story.html

 

The Comet roller coaster, which provoked whoops of delight, hollers, and screams from its riders from the 1940s to the 1980s, was demolished today as its fans stood by, remembering the bygone thrills of the former Lincoln Park amusement park.

 

“It was like your childhood got ripped down to the ground,” said Debbie Gabriel, 60, of New Bedford who stopped by with her husband, Steve, also 60, to collect mementos. The couple recalled going on dates at Lincoln Park and bringing their oldest daughter, Jennifer, now 34, when she was a child. “It’s pretty sad,” said Steve Gabriel.

 

The roller coaster sat on the park’s 42 acres near Route 6 and Beeden Road. Midway Realty LLC, a real estate firm, now has control of the property, and plans call for the site to be transformed into residences.

 

The 3,000-foot-long wooden coaster was designed by Edward Leis and Vernon Keenan of the National Amusement Device Co. and built in 1947 for $80,000. The ride climbed to 65 feet and had a top speed of 55 miles per hour.

 

The park itself was opened in 1894 by the Union Street Railway Co. as a picnic ground. It closed in 1987, after suffering from low attendance and tax issues. Rumors about safety issues did not help. During Comet’s final run, in 1987, faulty brakes caused the last car of the train to derail, leaving passengers dangling and injuring four. A private electrical contractor had died on the ride a year before.

 

In 1988, the owner put Lincoln Park up for sale for $3.5 million, but even then any chance of reopening the park was bleak. Three other New England amusement parks closed that same year. Eventually, the property was foreclosed on and seized by the bank. A series of owners and proposals for the land followed until it was bought by Midway in 2002.

 

Some rides were auctioned off, including the carousel, which ended up at Battleship Cove on the Fall River waterfront. However, the rest of the park has been idle since 1987, prey to multiple arson fires throughout the 1990s that destroyed the remaining buildings, including a bowling alley, skating rink, and a ballroom that not only had nightly live music and once hosted performances ranging from Buddy Holly to the Three Stooges. The park was also once frequented by President Kennedy and his children.

 

Debbie and Steve Gabriel shared a laugh today as they recalled times when they would get stuck on a Ferris wheel in the park, and Debbie would have fun with their passenger car at her husband’s expense. “I used to rock it purposely, and he’d yell at me,” she said.

 

Scott Almond, 52, of New Bedford, was also on hand. He remembered operating controls on the Comet in the 1970s. “It was exciting, trying to stop that, basically by hand-pressing down” a series of bars as the ride drew to a close, he said. “Lot of good memories going up in smoke right now,” he added.

 

Alan Souza, 68, of Westport, stood near the rubble and shook his head at one point, unable to completely fathom that a landmark from his youth was gone. “It’s like watching your childhood go to Hell,” he said. Souza remembered taking field trips to the park as a fifth-grader at the now-defunct St. Louis school in Fall River. “My parents didn’t even have a car, so that was the only way of getting here,” he said. Souza said his fondest memories included clambakes and roller skating at the park, and he sometimes ventured onto the Comet. “Not very often, I wasn’t that brave,” he said. “Of course in those days, that was quite a ride. Going up the hill [you’d hear] ‘clack, clack, clack, clack.’” Souza said he was saddened that many of the older amusement parks in the region have closed. “Six Flags and Disney and all that, I guess it’s hard to compete with them,” he said. “But this was local. When you couldn’t afford to take a trip to Florida, this was here.”

 

Messages left at Midway Realty seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Edited July 15, 2012 by robbalvey