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General Info
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Columns
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Resources
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Multimedia
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Drive-In Theaters
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Indoor Theaters
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Parks and Fairs
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Auto Racing
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Boat Racing
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Gas, Food and Lodging
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Cities and Towns
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Recreation and Sports
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Roadside Michigan
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Amusement Parks - Walled Lake Amusement Park |
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Name: Walled Lake Amusement Park Street: 13 Mile and Novi Rd.
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City: Walled Lake County: Oakland
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| Open: 1919 |
Closed: 1968 |
Status: Demolished |
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| Click on one of the links below, then click "Open" on the dialog box you are shown. Windows Media Player will then open automatically and play the video clip. |
| Windows Media Walled Lake Amusement Video 1 |
| Windows Media Walled Lake Amusement Video 2 |
| Windows Media Walled Lake Amusement Video 3 |
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The City of Walled Lake is about 25 miles outside of Detroit, and was an easy drive up Grand River Avenue. So
named because of an apparent series of "walls" on the bottom of the lake, it was the closest beach to
the Detroit area and was a perfect place for people in the city to swim and picnic. The early 1900's
was certainly the heyday of the Amusement Park and this is when the notion of building a park at
Walled Lake came to be.
Like many other parks around the state, the first phase of the Walled Lake Amusement Park was a small
dance hall and bathhouse. It was built by Jake and Ernest Taylor in 1919 near their general store at
the south end of the lake. The dance hall was soon attracting up to 1000 patrons per night who came
to dance to the Detroit-area "big bands" like Finzel's and Stone's Orchestra.
At the same time Herman Czenkusch was bulding the Cenaqua Shores subdivision consisting of several 30
ft. lots along the lake. Although the lots were meant to be sold in pairs and built upon as 1 large
lot, several people would build on one side of the lot and then sell the other lot to someone else who would
also build a cottage which resulted in a string of smaller places that were just a few feet apart.
Although some of these earlier dwellings have been remodeled or torn down, there are still numerous
examples of them lined up along East Lake Drive today.
Czenkusch also constructed a large bathhouse and a huge, 2 story wooden waterslide. The slide was
designed such that you would sit on a wooden tobbagon and slide down into the lake. Noticing the
steady business the Taylor Dance Hall was bringing in, Czenkusch added the Cenaqua Shores Dance
Pavillion across the street in 1921 which was larger, fancier, and contained a restaurant. He also
began showing motion pictures on the site. In November of 1921 the Cenequa Shores bathhouse and
water slide burned down, only to be replaced by Czenkusch with a bigger and better facility soon
after.
The Taylors were having difficulty competing with the larger Cenaqua Shores complex and decided to
sell their bathhouse and dance hall to Detroit grocer Louis Tolettene. Tolettene opened the
re-modeled dance hall under the name Casino Shore Dance Pavillion in April 1923. Czenkusch countered
by giving away a free car at the end of the season.
Tolletene upped the ante again and built the huge "New Casino" in 1925. The steel frame for the
building was constructed by the Smith Company. With the help of Tolettene himself, local carpenter
Art Harris finished it off and added the elaborate latticework ceiling. There was also a 120' x 140'
hardwood dance floor. The ceiling of the place was decorated with specially-designed wooden and silk
stars that were hand-painted and lit to create a the effect of the night sky. It was opened on April
13 1925.
This new development caused Czenkusch to rent his facilities to Howard S. Stamon, who had run an A&P
store and wanted to start his own business. Unfortunately, Howard did not have the experience needed
to make a go of it and Czenkusch took it back and made another attempt at competing with Loius
Tolettene before leasing his dance hall to Tolettene in 1927.
It appeared to be smooth sailing for Louis Tolettene, who now controlled both dance halls.
Unfortunately, Oakland County Sheriff Frank Shram got an injunction to stop Sunday dancing citing an
old "blue law" that had been on the books for years. This caused Louis to hire a prominent Detroit
attorney named Frank Garrett to argue his case. To bring the situation to a head, Louis had his
daughter dance with a friend on a Sunday knowing that Frank Shram would padlock the place. This
event forced the matter into court where Louis Tolettene would prevail. The result was the
re-instatement of dancing in Oakland County on Sundays for good.
In 1928, Tolettene installed a mirror ball in the dance hall with colored spot lights. He also began
booking out-of-town bands starting with the Broadway Collegians Orchestra from New York with
fantastic results. This continued for 3 years until the now ailing Herman Czenkusch converted his
smaller dance hall (which he still owned) into a successful roller rink. This set the stage for an
exciting new phase of development for Cenequa Shores.
In 1929, a roller coaster was built by Fred W. Pearce. Pearce had previously built 27 roller coasters
around the country. This new coaster, christened "The Flying Dragon", was his crowing achievement.
Because Pearce had an interest in having a park of his own, he made a deal with Czenkusch to lease
his property and went to work on constructing the Walled Lake Amusement Park, which included rides
like the "Pretzel" and the "Tilt-a-Whirl". The park opened on May 9, 1929 (Memorial Day) and was an
instant success. Unfortunately, Herman Czenkusch never witnessed this enormous success due to his
passing in August of 1929 at the age of 64.
That same year, the stock market crashed on October 24, the event that marked the beginning of the
Great Depression. Louis Tolettene received news on a Friday at 5:00 from a Mr. Chaffee at the Walled
Lake Bank that there had been a run on the bank and very little of his money was left. He took what
little there was and transferred it to a bank in Farmington which immediately failed as well, which
basically wiped him out.
In order to open for the next season, Louis was able to secure a loan from a Mrs. Richardson of Walled
Lake. Despite the depression, the Dance Hall, now known as the Walled Lake Casino Pavillion,
continued to flourish with a weekly radio broadcast that was heard nationwide. This put Walled Lake
on the map and established it as a premier entertaintment center for the mid-west.
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The amusement park and casino had their own beach with the large wooden slides. Unfortunately, there
were frequent injuries on the slides, and tragically, the death of a little girl from Detroit. This
led to the slides being closed down and dismantled soon thereafter. Some of the other attractions
were speedboat rides which were available for 15 cents.
Tolettene soon added a second stage and began booking 2 bands per night which gave the dance hall a
needed boost. The big band era began soon after that and bands from all over the country were
appearing at the Casino, including Tommy Dorsey, Red Nickels and the Five Pennys and Benny Goodman.
Louis Tolettene died in June of 1936, as he had been seriously ill. He left the casino to his wife
Leona. His nephews, Albert and Elmer, along with the rest of the family continued on and ran the
business from that point. There was a period of continued success in the Casino until WW II, which
caused the Casino to be closed for the duration.
The Casino re-opened in 1946 with the Orin Tucker Band. Many more acts followed like Johnny Long,
Tex Benecke, Harry James, Ross Murrow, Louis Armstrong, Sammy Kay, Wayne King, Guy Lomardo and Les
Brown. Lawrence Welk came in and played some of the last radio broadcasts from the casino. He also
bought a cottage on the lake for himself and his family.
The amusement park continued to flourish into the 1950's, even though the beach traffic was slowing a
bit due to the numerous other lakes in the area and the advent of backyard pools. There were also
concerns about waste from the park restrooms leaching into the lake. The picnic business was still
booming at this time and there were also military exhibitions which featured tanks and armored
vehicles.
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In 1957, Ralph Flannigan set attendence records at the Casino with his large band. But soon after, as televison
became more popular, attendance at the Casino and amusement park began to decline. In response, the
Tolettene brothers booked The Four Freshnman, The Four Aces, The Kingston Trio, Theresa Brewer and
Mel Torme. Unfortunately, attendance continued to decline until the Casino was closed in 1960, although the Walled
Lake Casino did out-last most of the other ballrooms throughout the country.
Leona Tolettene sold the Casino 2 years later to the Kramers who re-opened the place and began
booking the big bands again. After a couple of weeks however, they changed the bookings to rock and
roll and installed heat for year-round dancing. Local radio DJ's like Lee Allen were also brought in
to do their shows from the casino. The new rock and roll format was bringing in huge crowds doing
all of the latest dances.
Many famous rock acts of the day appeared there including Fabian, Stevie Wonder and Chuck Berry, who
appeared there directly after being released from prison for violation of the Mann Act. Chuck
arrived late and demanded to be paid in cash before going on stage.
In 1965 the Casino was sold once again to Detroit club owner Irving Meckler who changed the name to
Club-a-Go-Go. Tragedy struck however, on Christmas night 1965. Just after 11:30 the casino burnt to
the ground. The cause of the blaze appeared to be a smoldering cigarette that was swept up off
the floor and placed in a cardboard trash can. This was the end of the dance hall era in Walled Lake
as it would have been too costly to rebuild.
With the death of Fred W Pearce in the early 1960's. Fred Pearce Jr. took over operations of the
park although his heart wasn't in it. He later sold the park to the Wagner brothers who were the
owners of Edgewater Park at 7 Mile and Berg in Detroit. After a few more years, the park fell into
dis-repair and was closed at the end of the 1968 season. Many of the rides were dismantled and
relocated to Edgewater Park. This was the final hour of the great, 50 year history of Walled Lake
Amusement Park and Dance Hall
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