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Show 5 , I rr7?'" ' ,v k v.. 8 , . i - -r A The Lagoon roller coaster is a 52 week job, but intensive repairs are made during the winter and early spring season. un. Lagoon Gears Up For Another Season 1ST: ' By ROSELYN KIRK rem :: The winter season is the busiest time at Lagoon for the employees that is. Peter -Freed, Lagoon manager said ledfl.that 60 people are employed all .n;Winter, with additional man-" man-" power being added about Jan. 0fflf,:15 to gear up for the spring opening. utrfii; "THE WINTER work and Wftthe early spring planting are tifiii harder than the work during Da the summer when the season crisis in progress. During the En-i?wtnter there's never enough :.time to get all the work i-jone." g,iyt Winter is the time for B maintaining the rides. Every .nT'ide is taken into one of the maintenance areas and is )roken down. Each small part rettf-s repaired and the ride is es.v-eassembled. Maintenance (jf ork on the roller coaster is a 3g job in the winter and spring, although Mr. Freed said that repairs on that ride really takes 52 weeks a year. Opr- jp-jp A MAJOR repair job on the ' merry-go-round had been undertaken un-dertaken during this season. The carousel which was first built in 1906, is being restored and painted. "Merry-go-round buffs from all over the country come to see our merry-go-round since it's old and unique. All the animals are different," Mr. Freed said. A fire in 1953, which burned part of Lagoon, scorched the merry-go-round and made the scouring of the molding and the stripping of the animals necessary. "THE merry-go-round is a real centerpiece for the park. The authentic calliope provides the music. We're taking great care to repair it properly." In addition to repairing and maintaining the old rides, two new buildings, housing two new rides have been built . over the winter season. A $110,000 building will house a "super dodge-em ride, which will be called the Boomerang." The old dodge-em dodge-em building, has been remodeled into a mini-dodge-em course for children under 10. Most of the buildings are constructed by members of the Lagoon staff. "MANY OF these people have been here for a lot of years. They have the building skills we need." We also send them to seminars on ride maintenance so they can keep the equipment in repair." The Freed family Peter and his two brothers David and Don first leased Lagoon 31 years ago right after world war II. The resort, which was originally built by the Bamberger Bam-berger family is 81 years old, one of the older amusement parks in the country, Mr. Freed said. EACH YEAR, in the fall usually, Mr. Freed takes a trip to other parks trying to see if he can find something new that hasn't been tried at Lagoon. "We get ideas for different rides and games." The rides themselves are purchased from companies in both the United States and in Europe. - The biggest job right now at Lagoon is planting flowers and trees. In the spring 25 to 30 people are employed to work on the gardens. Mr. Freed could not estimate how many flowers were planted - Photos By Fred Wright each year, but said they were in the thousands. ALL THE flowers are annual an-nual and must be planted every year. Carl Swaner, at age 67, is in charge of the gardens. "I hope he'll never retire. He knows flowers," Mr. Freed said. The whole perimeter of the 325 acre site is being planted in trees this year. Lombardy Popular, Blue Spruce and Red Cedar will fill in to create the screen for the resort. THE BUILDING program is not so ambitious as last year when Pioneer Village was moved in from its site in Salt Lake. Mr. Freed said, "The whole thing was a risk. We estimated the project would cost about 1 million dollars, but it cost us two million." "The village wasn't in good condition, so it took us longer and cost more than we thought it would. But the effort ef-fort was worth it. The project attracted several master craftsmen." He told of Hen-ning Hen-ning Andersen from Denmark, Den-mark, a master painter who came to Lagoon because of the pioneer village. MR. ANDERSEN will continue con-tinue to work at Lagoon where small places to sit and detailed de-tailed paint work will reflect his painting skills. "He's from the old schools in Europe. His coming to work on the village is a benefit we never expected." The process of repair at Lagoon is continuous. Mr. Freed said every year $10,000 to $15,000 is spent to maintain the asphalt walks. There's never a time when something doesn't need painting. The painting never stops." THE PROBLEM with the opening in the spring, Mr. Freed said, "is we're always fighting for the deadline. We never quite have enough time. This year Lagoon will open earlier than ever on April 2." The summer season is the most exciting, he said. "That's when the adrenalin , Jlows. The most pleasant time is the fall when we're starting all over again. But the winter is the most haunting with the leaves and snow blowing about the midway and the whole resort haunted by the people who aren't there." rk J !i 2f John Jones stands on the framework of the roller-coaster looking out over the freeway. l 4 . -r. J. 'K... v: . l if trt-fscr ""11 ' v I '' ' " , ,rr . . J I The tilt a-whirl is being fitted with new seats for the summer season. r"' -Jv x ? ) r ' Hi I ' i'j ( "V . m&m&Jm.... - m"l -g!aaa:-rawnniiiiit.iiiiiii..,.jiyt mmr m John Jones and Dane Cluff tighten braces on the roller coaster. v , r I f ' i ' f Henning Andersen, master painter, refinishes horses for the European Merry-go-Round. The boats are in dry dock and Merry-go-round waits to be fitted with the newly painted animals. |
