Luna Park, Cleveland

Luna Park

Company type	Amusement park
Industry	Entertainment
Founded	1905
Founder	Frederick Ingersoll
Defunct	1929
Headquarters	Cleveland, Ohio , United States
Area served	Cleveland, Ohio
Key people	Frederick Ingersoll, Matthew Bramley
Products	Amusement rides and attractions

Luna Park was a trolley park—a specific variety of amusement park—located in Cleveland, Ohio, which operated from 1905 until 1929.

Specifications

Conceived and developed by entrepreneur and roller coaster innovator Frederick Ingersoll, Luna Park occupied a sloped area enclosed by Woodland Avenue, Woodhill, Mt. Carmel (initially known as Ingersoll Road), and East 110th Street. The park offered a wide array of attractions, including roller coasters, carousels, a fun house, a Ferris wheel, a roller rink, a shoot-the-chutes water ride, a concert shell, dance hall, bumper cars, a baseball diamond, and an expansive stadium seating 20,000 spectators, informally called the "Luna Bowl." This stadium was utilized for American football contests until it was lost to fire in August 1929.

Opening its gates on May 18, 1905, Luna Park in Cleveland was the second amusement park bearing that name created by Ingersoll (out of his total of 44) and ranked among the earliest parks to be extensively illuminated with electric lights—closely following the example set by Luna Park, Pittsburgh.

History

Financial difficulties stemming from the modernization of his early amusement parks compelled Ingersoll, the original proprietor of Cleveland’s Luna Park, to file for bankruptcy in 1908. Subsequently, ownership transferred to Matthew Bramley, an initial backer and eventual head of Ingersoll’s Luna Park Amusement Company. Bramley, who grew the Cleveland Trinidad Paving Company into a worldwide leader in road surfacing, upgraded Luna Park by adding new rides and increased its appeal partially through the introduction of beer sales on-site.

The onset of Prohibition in 1920 deprived the park of this significant income stream, leading to its gradual decline. Bramley ultimately shuttered Luna Park for good in 1929. The grounds endured several arson incidents—including the destruction of the football stadium—and most attractions were dismantled and moved during the early 1930s. By 1939, construction commenced on Woodhill Homes, among the nation’s pioneering public housing developments, which was completed in 1940 on what had been the park’s location.

Luna Bowl tenants

The Luna Bowl served as the home field for professional squads such as the Cleveland Panthers (of the first American Football League) and the Cleveland Bulldogs (National Football League). After rides began to be removed, it also accommodated teams from the Federal League’s Cleveland Green Sox alongside Negro league baseball clubs including the Cleveland Tigers (1928), Cleveland Stars (1932), Cleveland Giants (1933), and Cleveland Red Sox (1934).

At the collegiate level, Luna Bowl was notable for hosting a rivalry game on November 19, 1927, where Case School of Applied Science edged Western Reserve University with a 7–6 victory; Frank Herzegh of Case scored the decisive touchdown.

Woodland Rink

The Woodland Rink, a roller skating facility, was introduced to Luna Park following its acquisition by Matthew Bramley in 1910. On December 12, 1938, this rink, which had become the final surviving attraction of the park, was lost to a devastating fire.

External links

• Initial tour of Cleveland's Luna Park during its first year
• Chronology of enhancements made to Cleveland's Luna Park between 1906 and 1925
• Sanborn map from 1949 depicting sections of Luna Park including the athletic field
• Retrospective on Luna Park