Burton: Century Village gets section of Geauga Lake Raging Wolf Bobs, coaster car

BURTON -- On Friday, a section of the former Geauga Lake's Raging Wolf Bobs roller coaster and the chassis of an original coaster car became part of the Geauga County Historical Society's Century Village.

The 16-foot long by 9-foot wide by 5-foot high section of track and the coaster car were donated by Ray Edgehouse Jr.

On July 8, Edgehouse bought the Raging Wolf Bobs from Apex Western Machiner Movers, the Akron-based company that bought the coaster for $2,500 at the Geauga Lake auction in June.

Edgehouse was also selling parts of the Wolf Bobs on eBay.

Apex's Tom Woosnam represented the actual, still-unknown buyer of the Wolf Bobs and the Big Dipper at the June ride auction at Geauga Lake.

"I want nothing more than to preserve a section of this ride for my (children) and everyone else's children," Edgehouse told Channel 3 News.

The society said ARMS Trucking and Ronyak Paving Company, both of Burton, donated their time and equipment to bring the section of track and the coaster car to Century Village on East Park Street in downtown Burton.

The car will need renovation and the society is seeking donations for this purpose.

The society was also recently given the building that housed the Hay Baler ride at the former Geauga Lake.

It's developing plans to reconstruct this building at Century Village to house a welcome center, museum store, exhibit hall, offices and storage for the museum's 15,000 artifacts.

The society also hopes to develop a "Geauga Lake Amusement Park" exhibit in the Hay Baler building over the next few years with Edgehouse's gifts being the centerpieces of the exhibit.

A funding plan is currently being developed.

The society bought Geauga Lake's Palace Theater and its contents and a pavilion.

The Palace Theater is where magic acts were performed in the later years of the park.

The society plans to add a second floor to the theater and use half of the first floor for a Geauga Lake museum, offices and the second floor for storage of Geauga Lake items.

The Hay Baler building was the home of the 1976 Mack Himalaya Matterhorn ride and was donated to the society.

The Palace Theater was purchased for $1,000 and was the main reason the society went to Norton Auctioneers' Geauga Lake auction June 17-18.

The pavilion cost $4,500, all of which was funded by a grant.

Both the Palace Theater and the pavilion have already been moved to the historical society's Century Village in Burton.

The pavilion will be the base for the new Ohio Maple Museum.

The society is looking for donations to pay for the reconstruction of the buildings.

In 1988, as part of its centennial celebration, Geauga Lake Amusement Park unveiled the Raging Wolf Bobs roller coaster.

The $2 million wooden coaster was 3,506 feet long and reached a height of 80 feet above ground.

With the cars obtaining speeds of up to 50 miles per hour, the ride took 2 minutes to complete.

It ceased operations in June, 2007 shortly before Geauga Lake Amusement Park closed for good in September 2007.

In existence since 1938, the society is the only living history center in Geauga County.

Through its role as curator, it supports the Century Village Museum, consisting of 22 historic buildings and 6 support structures in downtown Burton.

The museum provides tours to more than 5,000 school children from 60 schools each year and hosts numerous major annual events highlighting various cultural aspects of the Western Reserve.