Palace Amusements

U.S. National Register of Historic Places
New Jersey Register of Historic Places
Location	Asbury Park, New Jersey
Coordinates	40°13′4″N 74°0′12.76″W / 40.21778°N 74.0035444°W / 40.21778; -74.0035444Coordinates: 40°13′4″N 74°0′12.76″W / 40.21778°N 74.0035444°W / 40.21778; -74.0035444
Built	June 1888 (1888-06)
Built by	Ernest Schnitzler
Architect	Ernest Schnitzler William B. Stout
Architectural style	Late Victorian
Demolished	May 26, 2004 (2004-05-26)
NRHP Reference #	00001406[1]
NJRHP #	3705[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	November 22, 2000 (2000-11-22)
Designated NJRHP	October 12, 2000 (2000-10-12)

Palace Amusements was a historical indoor amusement park in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Built in 1888, and expanded several times over its history, the 100-year-old structure saw the good and bad of the storied Asbury Park boardwalk, withstood multiple nor'easters and hurricanes and both the Great Depression and World War II. After several different owners and an increase in competition from other nearby attractions and worsening economic situation in both Asbury and the country in the mid-1980s, the park had to declare bankruptcy and closed its doors for good in 1988.

Several efforts were made to save the historic structure, including its hand-carved carousel and infamous murals and decorations, but in 2004, after an independent structural inspection, the building was deemed unsafe (and already damaged in several areas) and was ordered demolished. A local grassroots organization was able to save several pieces from the building, including the famed Tillie mural.

History

Early years

On February 20, 1888, Ernest S. Schnitzler, a well-established German immigrant who already had several interests in Atlantic City, set out to build a pleasure palace at the corner of Lake Avenue and Kingsley Street in Asbury Park, New Jersey. After placing ads in local directories promoting the new amusement attraction, a contract was created for local workmen to remove planks from a 100 by 190 feet (30 m × 58 m) skating rink – known as the Surf Palace – for reuse "as far as possible" in the construction of the new building. Despite the arrival of a deadly nor'easter on March 12, which dumped up to an estimated 40 inches (1,000 mm) of snow from Maryland to Maine, it appeared as if nothing could discouraged Schnitzler from pursuing his dream. By June 1, the four-sided Victorian pavilion was nearly done. Asbury Park carpenter had built a 93 by 100 feet (28 m × 30 m) one-story structure and local roofer Joseph L. Seamon covered the double hip roof with 11,300 square feet (1,050 m²) of felt roofing. At ground level, wood frame doors with colored glass slid along horizontal rails, while higher up, a band of windows separated the lower and upper hip roofs. Inside, there were no partitions or finishes, leaving an exposed framing system. In a sense, it was big box.^[3]

Schnitzler's big box was for them, the men in top hats and the women with their parasols, the summer folk who rode the railroad from New York City and middle New Jersey to enjoy the mile-and-a-quarter stretch of oceanfront Asbury. They walked Bradley's boardwalk, took in performances in the orchestra pavilion, visited the public baths and strolled the pier at the south end of the boardwalk, but except for the roller toboggan at the southwest corner of Ocean and 2nd Avenues, there wasn't much by way of organized amusements. That was the niche Schnitzler intended to fill and he was soon placing advertisements in the city directory describing his pleasure palace as a place of "refined amusement for Ladies, Gents, and Children. Polite Attendants. First-Class Soda for sale in the Building." At the heart of his enterprise, as his premium draw, Schnitzler placed a great carousel crafted by Charles I.D. Looff, who was among the first eminent American carousel builders. The three-row machine held 70 hand carved animals, of slender and stylized bodies, spirited expressions and elaborate trappings. Most were carved by Looff, but under the pressure of a delivery deadline, a few were purchased from the master carver Gustav Dentzel of Philadelphia.^[3]

Expansions begin

In 1892, R.A. Johnson & Company announced plans to erect an observation wheel in Asbury Park right next door to the Palace. Known as an "Observation Roundabout", the 50 feet (15 m) wooden wheel was one of three made by Atlantic City inventor William Somers. Asbury Park's The Daily Press of June 28, 1892 described Somers' wheel as "the most conspicuous object in that part of the Park. It is a decided novelty, and will doubtless prove a success here as it has in other places." According to the newspaper, the wheel "is attractively painted in three colors, white, red and yellow. It is being fitted up with eighteen coaches, each one seating four persons. It is run by steam power, and is entirely safe. The roundabout will open for business about July 1."^[4]

Schnitzler, owner of the Palace, appeared to be unsettled by his new neighbor. While no records of his reaction remain, a series of events gave a strong indication that he was less than pleased. In 1895, Schnitzler contracted with the Phoenix Iron and Bridge Company of Phoenixville, PA, to build a wheel that was bigger (67 feet (20 m)), stronger (iron versus wood), had more carriages (20 versus 18), and carried more passengers (160 versus 72) than the Somers wheel, and gave his passengers a better view, because at the top of the ride, they could debark onto a platform, climb a short flight of stairs, and from an observatory have unparalleled views Asbury Park, Ocean Grove, and the Atlantic Ocean. Knowing that they could never compete, the Johnson Company dismantled and moved the Somers wheel to Baltimore, and Schnitzler bought their 32-foot by 100-foot property along Lake Avenue - the first expansion of the Palace resort - as the home for his own wheel. The Daily Press quickly jumped onto Schnitzler's bandwagon, predicting that "Ernest Schnitzler's amusement palace, when finally completed, will be one of the sights of Asbury Park. "...The Merry-go-Round has always been a leading feature of the Park, but the addition this year of the new iron observatory will make the establishment one of the most complete of its kind in the world." (June 19, 1895.)

Schnitzler's invention ^[5] was immense, rising 74 feet (23 m) from the floor of the Palace to the observation deck, high above the roof. Two rectangular towers supported the central wheel, the upper landing and the observation deck. The ride was powered by a 2-cylinder reversible steam hosting engine manufactured by Ledgerwood Engine Co., Newark, NJ. The 20 carriages were each named for a U.S. city, including Asbury Park and Ocean Grove, the names appearing in gold letters. Electrical problems foiled Schnitzler's hopes to carry passengers for the first time on the Fourth of July, 1895, but after electricians worked through a drenching rain on July 5 to finish their contract, the wheel, spinning at seven revolutions per minute, opened a few days later to excellent reviews. At night, 300 lights shone brightly from the rims of the wheels and another 80 lights illuminated the observatory.

Even with the weather delay, the timing of the wheel's first rides couldn't have been better. For just as the wheel went into operation, Asbury Park played host to over 10,000 members of the League of American Wheelmen, bringing bicyclists from as far away as Denver to the Shore for national competitions. They, and Asbury's summer folk, flocked to the Palace to experience a ride on the wheel that the July 11 The Daily Press described as "a surprise at night, but more so in the daytime. The view from the tower is simply indescribably grand in every direction." Far less thrilled were the owners of nearby hotels who, according to historian Daniel Wolff, complained about sparks and ashes from the steam engine. By the time Schnitzler's wheel faded into history, it had carried passengers for more years than any Ferris wheel in American history.

Tillie mural in 2002

When August Williams bought the Palace from Ernest Schnitzler in the mid-1920s, the arcade was a 100-foot by 153-foot rectangle, consisting of the original pavilion, the rotating wheel building, and the Crystal Maze building (a mirror maze). In large measure, Williams' success in keeping the Palace alive during the Great Depression owed a great deal to a designer, "Nick" Nichols, and a Polish carpenter remembered today only as Mr. D.

The first major innovation by Nichols and Mr. D was the construction of a steep, surprise-filled Funhouse rising all the way to the eaves of the Palace roof, flush along the northern wall of Ernest Schnitzler's original Victorian pavilion. It could be navigated, said Joe Travers, the Palace's chief mechanic in the late 1930s and early 1940s, in 15 or 20 minutes, but at times, "sailors would come in with a girl and not come out for a half hour or more."

Nichols also appeared to have been a major player in the development of the first dark ride at the Palace. As dark rides go, the Palace was highly unusual. The dark ride was known as Ghost Town, featuring a series of spooky encounters and figures created by Nichols. One Nichols figure was a papier-maché image of a barker, reputedly patterned after a local Asbury Park politician; another was a manufactured animation of a bulldog, dressed as an Asbury Park police chief with the title deliberately misspelled "The Cheef" on his hat.

This park was known for inspiring a generation of artists, photographers and songwriters (including Bruce Springsteen). Thanks to its iconic wall murals, including two grinning fun faces known as Tillie, the Palace was one of the most identifiable buildings on the Jersey Shore. Honored by a place on both the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places, the Palace operated for 100 years (from 1888 to 1988). Demolition, in 2004, occurred over the protest of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Asbury Park Historical Society, Preservation New Jersey, and the Save Tillie organization. Prior to demolition, Save Tillie members spent five days removing over 125 artifacts from inside the Palace. All items were given to the Asbury Park Historical Society and the City of Asbury Park for safekeeping. However, in February 2010, officials of both organizations said they had destroyed all but four of the more than 125 artifacts, an act denounced by Save Tillie's president, Bob Crane, who said that at no time was Save Tillie alerted to the impending loss or given a chance to reclaim the items. "We would have taken all of them," he said. "These irreplaceable items were all viable candidates for restoration, and all told a part of the Asbury Park story that is now lost."

Palace Amusements locked its doors for the final time at 6:00 PM on Sunday, November 27, 1988.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Monmouth County, New Jersey

References

External links

• Palace Amusements Museum
• Photos of the now-demolished Palace Amusements
• Save Tillie
• http://patricia-arroyo.artistwebsites.com/