Courtesy of Opacity. Aerial view in the 1950s. The rink was in that red long building on the left of the photograph by the road and the dance hall was immediately next door.
Both are stickers. Newer one is the 4 colors compared to the right which is older and two colors. Both skaters are in same positions in both stickers but the trend of hairdo and the art itself tells the differences. The colorful one shows more of 1950s hairstyles and more defined.
Lincoln Park Roller Rink Route 6, North Dartmouth, MA
Lincoln Park Roller Rink was part of an amusement park in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts. It was in Lincoln Park. Originally, Lincoln Park was a trolley park when Union Street Railway Company created in 1894. It was a 46 acres of land in Dartmouth. The park originally had picnic tables, a playground, and several grill stoves for cookouts. This continued into the 1920s, which was when Lincoln Park became more of an amusement park. Before 1920s, it was originally called Midway Park and Westport Park before the expansion which requires a new name. Lincoln Park was chosen in a lottery of many names people submitted.
But it was not until 1941, the park was purchased by John Collins & Associates (John Collins, Harry Prince, and Max Zand) for 40,000 USD (708,106.12 USD inflation adjusted). They invested 150,000 USD (2,655,397.96 USD) installing a fourteen lane bowling alley and updating an existing dance hall as well the skating rink, and added a full complement of amusement park rides. The purchasing is cheaper than to built a new bowling alley? That shows something not right. Apparently the rail company was selling cheap or on fire sale. My opinion. The bowling alley was built with Brunswick Centennial technology. (I believe this was a Ten-pin bowling). Those three new buildings were main attractions at the park and was popular to older generations to bowl, skate, or dance. But the children really made affect. That caused the bowling alley to close somewhere in 1970s or early 1980. Of course it was John Collins and Associates built the rink and was operators but the management was operated by Stan and Shirley Babiec.
So the roller rink opened in 1941 just before the War (World War II). But they made it successful and the park itself was popular throughout that decade all the way up to 1985. Everything was in fast declining as it was getting old fast and problems started to show at the Lincoln Park amusement park. The Ballroom had big names including Buddy Holly and Three Stooges performed there. But the roller rink was separate from the ballroom there.
Lincoln Park had a regulation skating rink (NHL size), complete with organ and snack bar. The Lincoln Park Rollettes performed regularly. The rink also hosted local and regional competitions and was very popular among the kids. Dime nights existed where, if you brought a dime of the correct year (which was advertised earlier in the week) you could skate all night. Sound like fun! Really. The contest if you have the dime of the correct year as it was advertised that week. Say, this week is 1936, the dime has to say 1936 and the cashier would see that you have the correct dime, you can skate all night. Others could not if not correct year. Next week, it would say 1942, etc.
An artist named Dominic Spadola shared his work with every park goer. He is credited with painting the beautiful signs of the Zodiac on the Towers, creating much of the Kiddie Land décor and structures, monsters for the Monster Ride and Pirates Den, colorful theming, signs, and so much more. Much of his work was ruined in the mid 80’s when the park changed hands and the new owners painted a uniform "Battleship Gray" but all of the funky colorful fun things that gave the park its personality were painted over in a uniform White and Blue theme. This painting over was the most likely cause of Dominic Spadola quitting being an artist, the fun and funky were gone. Attendance and revenues declined from there, as the park lost it’s hometown feel, and was not able to compete with the big chains like Disney and Six Flags and more famous parks (Coney Island, Darien Lake, Seabreeze, etc). So, the decline was how the park owners painted over everything Blue and White and other park attendees left for other big name parks.
In 1986 really starting to get bad. It started with fatal accident on the age old 1946 Comet wooden roller coaster that people had concerned and questioned the safety of the park.
Facing declining attendance, the then park owner, Jay Hoffman, invested 75,000 USD in updating the park. This plan was to reduce the park in size by moving the 1921 carousel to Battleship Cove in Fall River, and dismantling a smaller kiddie version of the Comet roller coaster. In a May 1987 story from The Providence Journal, Jay is quoted as saying that the park had been fully inspected and was safe.
However, just four months later on September 29, 1987, the braking system on the roller coaster failed, causing one of the cars to jackknife. Although no one was injured, this was the final ride of the coaster. That train of cars that is jackknifed sat that way till vandals tore it off years later.
That really nailed the park to close on December 3, 1987, owing 48,000 USD in taxes and 13,000 USD in unpaid police details. Almost all of the rides were dismantled and auctioned off. The park's Ferris wheel was moved to the New Bedford waterfront. Many of the buildings were damaged by weather elements including a major snow storm in 2005, then there were flooding which rot out buildings and roofs collapsed on several buildings.
Between 1990 and 2012, There were a string of fires by arsonists destroying about 90 percent of all buildings. Vandalism was paramount at that park as I can see that. It was easy for them to sneak in and without police presence, it was easier for them to be violent. It is called "Broken Window Effect."
In July 13,1992 at 5AM, Park goes up in flames again, destroying the skating rink and former bowling alley.
A new developer was going to buy and rebuilt the park but because of ongoing arsonists burring buildings. He dropped the plan and either sold back to the bank that owns the property after the seizure from Jay, the last owner from 1980s.
Because of this, this is why they were cleared out, demolished, and a 252 units housing project was built on 42 of 46 acres. The fir wood from the Comet roller coaster was made into Adirondack chairs and sold for charity.
The only entertainment now you will get in that immediate area is cross the street on Route 6 is Caddy Shack Mini Golf and batting cages. That is it.
The Interior.
Likely wood floor, no photo available of interior.
The Exterior.
It apparently had Bright Red roof Dressed Coursed Random stone wall building. It was a mixed theme building-- a mixture of Prairie School with a little of Craftsman style and a hint of Art Deco but not a lot (the tall steeples by the front door). This style may have borrowed from Frank Lloyd Wright, famed Architect for its style. Many places borrowed or copied off because it was a trend. Like with the Late Andy Warhol with his Commercial Art-ism that many companies copied off. It is common for anybody to copied off someone else's.
They did renovated with the appearance. Originally with huge signs on it to get attention but the newer ones, nothing on there and it did make it look a lot better. Looks like a state park building. But it was destroyed by some arsonists.
This was very unique design and looks to be permanent for a long time. But because it was associated with the park (read park history above), this went down with it. "Goes down with the ship." Usually in reference a captain sink with the ship because he has to be the last one off when everyone has to get off. Not all did but a few cases (ie- Titanic).
This appearance was beautiful quite unique for a skating rink. It was very classy and because of the investment the new owner put in, can afford such more fancier looking rink.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Likely wood. Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: N/A. (appared large) Built: N/A. Demolished: July 13,1992 at 5AM by arsonists (fire).
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel (?) Truss Dressed Coursed Random-Walled Warehouse - like Building.
Roof: Mixed.
Acres: N/A.
Operated: 1941 to 1985 (Park- Spring 1894 to December 3, 1986)
Reason for Closure: Declining attendance at the rink and the park itself.
Wanted: Information regarding exact dates of open/closed, why closed, size of rink, rink materials. Also photos. Anyone knows or have photos, please let me know by emailing at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources: Wikipedia - Lincoln Park Amusement Park; Opacity - Lincoln Park Amusement Park (Info and photos);
IP Comet - defunct website capture;
Date of issue: 10 January 2021.
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:16.
But it was not until 1941, the park was purchased by John Collins & Associates (John Collins, Harry Prince, and Max Zand) for 40,000 USD (708,106.12 USD inflation adjusted). They invested 150,000 USD (2,655,397.96 USD) installing a fourteen lane bowling alley and updating an existing dance hall as well the skating rink, and added a full complement of amusement park rides. The purchasing is cheaper than to built a new bowling alley? That shows something not right. Apparently the rail company was selling cheap or on fire sale. My opinion. The bowling alley was built with Brunswick Centennial technology. (I believe this was a Ten-pin bowling). Those three new buildings were main attractions at the park and was popular to older generations to bowl, skate, or dance. But the children really made affect. That caused the bowling alley to close somewhere in 1970s or early 1980. Of course it was John Collins and Associates built the rink and was operators but the management was operated by Stan and Shirley Babiec.
So the roller rink opened in 1941 just before the War (World War II). But they made it successful and the park itself was popular throughout that decade all the way up to 1985. Everything was in fast declining as it was getting old fast and problems started to show at the Lincoln Park amusement park. The Ballroom had big names including Buddy Holly and Three Stooges performed there. But the roller rink was separate from the ballroom there.
Lincoln Park had a regulation skating rink (NHL size), complete with organ and snack bar. The Lincoln Park Rollettes performed regularly. The rink also hosted local and regional competitions and was very popular among the kids. Dime nights existed where, if you brought a dime of the correct year (which was advertised earlier in the week) you could skate all night. Sound like fun! Really. The contest if you have the dime of the correct year as it was advertised that week. Say, this week is 1936, the dime has to say 1936 and the cashier would see that you have the correct dime, you can skate all night. Others could not if not correct year. Next week, it would say 1942, etc.
An artist named Dominic Spadola shared his work with every park goer. He is credited with painting the beautiful signs of the Zodiac on the Towers, creating much of the Kiddie Land décor and structures, monsters for the Monster Ride and Pirates Den, colorful theming, signs, and so much more. Much of his work was ruined in the mid 80’s when the park changed hands and the new owners painted a uniform "Battleship Gray" but all of the funky colorful fun things that gave the park its personality were painted over in a uniform White and Blue theme. This painting over was the most likely cause of Dominic Spadola quitting being an artist, the fun and funky were gone. Attendance and revenues declined from there, as the park lost it’s hometown feel, and was not able to compete with the big chains like Disney and Six Flags and more famous parks (Coney Island, Darien Lake, Seabreeze, etc). So, the decline was how the park owners painted over everything Blue and White and other park attendees left for other big name parks.
In 1986 really starting to get bad. It started with fatal accident on the age old 1946 Comet wooden roller coaster that people had concerned and questioned the safety of the park.
Facing declining attendance, the then park owner, Jay Hoffman, invested 75,000 USD in updating the park. This plan was to reduce the park in size by moving the 1921 carousel to Battleship Cove in Fall River, and dismantling a smaller kiddie version of the Comet roller coaster. In a May 1987 story from The Providence Journal, Jay is quoted as saying that the park had been fully inspected and was safe.
However, just four months later on September 29, 1987, the braking system on the roller coaster failed, causing one of the cars to jackknife. Although no one was injured, this was the final ride of the coaster. That train of cars that is jackknifed sat that way till vandals tore it off years later.
That really nailed the park to close on December 3, 1987, owing 48,000 USD in taxes and 13,000 USD in unpaid police details. Almost all of the rides were dismantled and auctioned off. The park's Ferris wheel was moved to the New Bedford waterfront. Many of the buildings were damaged by weather elements including a major snow storm in 2005, then there were flooding which rot out buildings and roofs collapsed on several buildings.
Between 1990 and 2012, There were a string of fires by arsonists destroying about 90 percent of all buildings. Vandalism was paramount at that park as I can see that. It was easy for them to sneak in and without police presence, it was easier for them to be violent. It is called "Broken Window Effect."
In July 13,1992 at 5AM, Park goes up in flames again, destroying the skating rink and former bowling alley.
A new developer was going to buy and rebuilt the park but because of ongoing arsonists burring buildings. He dropped the plan and either sold back to the bank that owns the property after the seizure from Jay, the last owner from 1980s.
Because of this, this is why they were cleared out, demolished, and a 252 units housing project was built on 42 of 46 acres. The fir wood from the Comet roller coaster was made into Adirondack chairs and sold for charity.
The only entertainment now you will get in that immediate area is cross the street on Route 6 is Caddy Shack Mini Golf and batting cages. That is it.
The Interior.
Likely wood floor, no photo available of interior.
The Exterior.
It apparently had Bright Red roof Dressed Coursed Random stone wall building. It was a mixed theme building-- a mixture of Prairie School with a little of Craftsman style and a hint of Art Deco but not a lot (the tall steeples by the front door). This style may have borrowed from Frank Lloyd Wright, famed Architect for its style. Many places borrowed or copied off because it was a trend. Like with the Late Andy Warhol with his Commercial Art-ism that many companies copied off. It is common for anybody to copied off someone else's.
They did renovated with the appearance. Originally with huge signs on it to get attention but the newer ones, nothing on there and it did make it look a lot better. Looks like a state park building. But it was destroyed by some arsonists.
This was very unique design and looks to be permanent for a long time. But because it was associated with the park (read park history above), this went down with it. "Goes down with the ship." Usually in reference a captain sink with the ship because he has to be the last one off when everyone has to get off. Not all did but a few cases (ie- Titanic).
This appearance was beautiful quite unique for a skating rink. It was very classy and because of the investment the new owner put in, can afford such more fancier looking rink.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Likely wood. Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: N/A. (appared large) Built: N/A. Demolished: July 13,1992 at 5AM by arsonists (fire).
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel (?) Truss Dressed Coursed Random-Walled Warehouse - like Building.
Roof: Mixed.
Acres: N/A.
Operated: 1941 to 1985 (Park- Spring 1894 to December 3, 1986)
Reason for Closure: Declining attendance at the rink and the park itself.
Wanted: Information regarding exact dates of open/closed, why closed, size of rink, rink materials. Also photos. Anyone knows or have photos, please let me know by emailing at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources: Wikipedia - Lincoln Park Amusement Park; Opacity - Lincoln Park Amusement Park (Info and photos);
IP Comet - defunct website capture;
Date of issue: 10 January 2021.
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:16.