For Boblo Fans

Hopefully the old Boblo boat Columbia will be crusing the Detroit River again in the future.

I know there have been several attempts to restore the Columbia in the past, so I hope this will not prove to be another disappointment. The Boblo boats were a wonderful summer memory for me.

http://www.freep.com/money/business/walsh17_20031217.htm

I don't know. I can't shake the feeling that the boat--much like the island itself--will simply become some playtoy of the filthy, filthy rich.

Just a feeling...

-'Playa
*** Edited 12/18/2003 3:34:10 PM UTC by CoastaPlaya***

Thanks sharing the article, CPLady. I grew up in Detroit and loved going to Boblo Island. That was the first park I went to, and was lucky enough to go there when it really was a good park.

Does anyone have any pics, maps, or brochures of Boblo or any of the parks rides and attractions. If so, please send me the link.

Thanks.

http://rcdb.com/locationdetail187.htm

Boblo, half the fun was the trip to and from.

http://rcdb.com/installationdetail318.htm

Mike....we rode a Boblo Island coaster at PNE....not the greatest coaster at PNE.....;)

But, it was cool to see 3 of the 4 B.I. coasters got a new lease on life!

Damn!!, I had a website saved on my old computer about the resteration of the old boblo boat , but since I got a new comp....its lost.

It was a really interesting site. It had many pics of the resteration prosses. The boat was in bad condition, including water damage and wood rot. When they started the resteration, they found bums sleeping on the boat as well as a lot of vandelism.

The boat has partialy been restored and has put on a haunted house on the boat to help raise money to restore the boat.

The funny thing is, with all the damage, wood rot, vandelism, the engine room is still in near mint condition....it was the only part of the boat that was really protected from the elements.....ahhh the memmories of them big pistins and oil smell comming from the open engine room.

gator, that was the first time I rode that V-coma, it had been thirty years since the last time I had been to Boblo when Sky Streak scared the hell out of me.

There's a beautiful book of photographs by Bill Rauhauser called "Bob-Lo Revisited" that came out earlier this year. It's has three sections - "On the Boats", "The Island" and "Going Home", with the photos recreating a visit from Detroit to Bob-Lo.

Sure brought back many memories for me. It's not cheap - $35 from Press Lorentz in Ann Arbor and Chicago - but it is a high-quality piece of work. Near brought a tear to this old ride op's eye ...