Volume 1, No. 18. October 5, 2001
Whalom's
woes
The family that has owned Whalom
Park in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, for 66 years and hopes to get the amusement
park opened next summer after remaining dark for all of the 2001 season won
an ally last week. Historic Massachusetts, an advocacy group for historic preservation
in the state, listed Whalom on its ninth annual Massachusetts' Ten Most Endangered
Historic Resources List. That register includes historical and cultural landmarks
threatened by neglect, insensitive public policy, vandalism, inappropriate development
or insufficient funding.
Those last two items apply to Whalom. The Bowen family, who own only 41 percent
of the Whalom Park Amusement Company shares, have been unable to convince the
other shareholders to sell their stakes to amusement operators rather than real
estate developers.
"We have good backing as far as private investors who want to get involved in
the amusement industry, or specifically in our park," said Allyson Bowen, whose
grandfather, Henry G. Bowen, bought the 1893 trolley park from the Fitchburg
and Leominster Street Railway Company in 1935. "Currently our offer to the other
stockholders is the best one on the table, and it has been since it was made
in the spring. But we are running up against obstacles buying out the other
stockholders." Bowen said she does not know why other stockholders—none
of whom hold a majority share in the company—are balking. "If I knew what
the obstacle was, I would try to get around it."
The 35-acre park has 30 rides, including a 1939 wooden roller coaster, two flume
water slides and several classic flat rides, including a tumblebug and flying
scooter. Also on the property is a carousel with Loof carvings dating to the
late 19th century and a Mangels mechanism circa 1912. Allyson Bowen is director
of the Whalom Park Carousel Association which won an IAAPA award last year for
its efforts at saving the carousel from destruction. Even if the park as a whole
doesn't reopen, the carousel is safe, Bowen said. "The three towns that make
up the tri-town area (Lunenburg, Fitchburg and Leominster) all want it. There's
going to be no lack for a home for the carousel. But our first choice is to
keep it on the midway."
Bowen cites poor management of the park the past five years as what "basically
set the company back," but she remains optimistic that Whalom, which historically
pulled in annual attendance of 200,000 to 250,000, can be a money-making enterprise,
especially with its authentic nostalgic setting and equipment. "Whalom is different
from other parks in the fact it has retained its history," she said. "It has
a feel of an amusement park that my parents and my grandparents would have gone
too." She also points to the park's location 45 minutes outside of Boston and
the surrounding 11 million-residents population. "With proper management and
proper marketing, I think we can really find a niche within the New England
amusement industry."
Even if the park reopens, it will have to overcome the stigma of being closed
all of 2001. Aside from cosmetic and mechanical renovations to get the grounds
and equipment suitable for public use, the park would have to spend money simply
advertising its survival. "It will be an uphill battle to get the people back,"
Bowen admitted. The ability to do that, and to even obtain a majority of shares
in the company, rests on the park's convincing the local population and its
own ownership what a historical treasure it is.
"There's a double-edged sword in preservation," Bowen says. "It's only when
people see things being lost that they decide to actually save those that remain.
It takes being the last of your kind to make people stop and notice you and
make historic preservation profitable."