The facility would celebrate its Grand Opening a few months later, which I wrote about back here.
The late 1950s and early 60s was an era in which some of the local swim clubs (such as the Sun Fun Swim Club in Vermilion) opened up. As I’ve noted before, perhaps this was a reflection of the good economic times, and the desire to enjoy wholesome family entertainment and social activities.
Club Carousel offered not only a variety of pools suited for various age groups, but also tennis and badminton courts, dodge ball, shuffleboard, horseshoe pits and basketball. According to the ad, a nine hole golf course was planned.
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| The closed Club Carousel as it looks today (courtesy Lorain County Auditor) |
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Although we might not have enjoyed a pool membership, many of us remember the annual Haunted Forest of Carousel, a particularly well-done Halloween attraction.
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UPDATE (May 3, 2021)
Courtesy of longtime contributor Doug, here’s a great aerial view of the former Club Carousel property from earlier this year.
Dear Mr. Brady,
ReplyDeleteDuring the summer of 1967 the Carousel Club hosted a series of weekend evening "splash parties" with a local high school rock band providing the musical entertainment. I was the 17 year old "business manager" for a LHS band called The Wheatstone Bridge. I had negotiated a contract with the club owner for the band to play on ten Fridays for $1,000. My commission was to be the usual 10%.
As The Fates would have it, on the night of the first gig, The Turtles came to Lorain for an appearance at the roller rink arena on West Erie Avenue (later the location of Kerr's Beverage). For those not yet born, The Turtles (aka Flo & Eddie) had a big hit on the charts called "Happy Together." This was reason enough for half of The Wheatstone Bridge to go to see The Turtles instead of showing up to play at the Carousel Club splash party.
The band was not together and the Carousel Club owner was definitely not happy.
Needless to say, the contract was cancelled and I was out 100 bucks.
Such are the vissitudes of the music industry. But I had a fun time splish splashing around that memorable evening at the Carousel Club!
I worked at the the haunted forest a couple years. The training consisted of being given a costume (mine was always an ape) and being told to just "go scare people". Funny that it appeared to be a well run business.
ReplyDelete"The Wheatstone Bridge"! You guys must have been electrifying!
ReplyDeleteI think I remember hearing that Club Carousel location sold for $85,000 back in 2018 or 2019.This didn't include the seperate Breezewood Party Center next door.Wonder if there are any new plans to open up again?
ReplyDeleteHere is a link of an exploration of the place
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/ZXUIsf4mwq0
That video should answer that question, how sad, not what i remember it?
ReplyDelete