Lotus Isle

{{Short description|Defunct amusement park in Portland, Oregon, U.S.}}

{{Infobox amusement park

| name = Lotus Isle

| image = Lotus Isle bumper cars.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| caption = "Bulldog" bumper cars at Lotus Isle

| location = Tomahawk Island, Portland, Oregon, U.S.

| owner = Edwin F. Platt

| opening_date = June 28, 1930{{cite news|date=June 28, 1930|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oregonian/173330973/|work=The Oregonian|p=4|title=Lotus Isle, New Resort, To Open Its Gates Today|via=Newspapers.com}}

| closing_date = 1932

| status = Closed

| coordinates = {{coord|45.610945|-122.673984|type:landmark_region:US-OR|display=inline,title}}

}}

Lotus Isle Amusement Park was an amusement park that operated from 1930 to 1932 on Tomahawk Island in Portland, Oregon.{{cite news |title=Developer envisions new splendor for once-popular Lotus Isle |work=The Oregonian |date=September 11, 1974 |last=Erickson|first=Steve|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oregonian/173336996/|via=Newspapers.com|page=27}} Known as the "Wonderland of the Pacific Northwest", Lotus Isle was located just east of the more successful Jantzen Beach Amusement Park. Lotus Isle spread out over {{convert|128|acre|km2}} and at the time was Portland's largest amusement park.{{cite book |title=Great and Minor Moments in Oregon History |isbn=978-0980243604 |date=2008 |publisher=New Oregon Publishers |editor=Dick Pintarich}}

History

=1930: Construction and opening=

File:T. H. Eslick riding Lotus Isle monorail.jpg, builder of Lotus Isle, riding the monorail (center), 1930]]

Lotus Isle Amusement Park opened on June 28, 1930, after a group of investors realized the success of the nearby Jantzen Beach Amusement Park. At the time of its opening, Lotus Isle was the largest amusement park in Oregon. The park consisted of forty attractions including bumper cars, a rollercoaster, a log cabin-style cafe,{{cite web|date=April 6, 1930|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sunday-oregonian/173337649/|title=Lotus Isle Plans Provide Fairyland|via=Newspapers.com|work=The Oregonian|p=14}} and a dance hall called the Peacock Ballroom.{{cite web |url=http://offbeatoregon.com/1209b-lotus-isle-amusement-park-a-swindle-gone-awry.html |work=Offbeat Oregon |title=Lotus Isle, Oregon's most surreal amusement park |author=Finn J. D. John |date=September 10, 2012 |access-date=August 20, 2015}} The Peacock Ballroom cost approximately $60,000 to construct.{{cite news|work=The Oregonian|date=June 29, 1930|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sunday-oregonian/173337394/|via=Newspapers.com|title=Lotus Isle Will Furnish Its Own Broadcast|p=6}}

==Injury and death incidents==

A patron of the park allegedly sustained injuries while riding a rollercoaster in the park on July 13, 1930, and sought $25,000 in damages over the incident.{{cite news|work=The Oregonian|date=September 6, 1930|p=7|title=$25,000 Damages Asked|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oregonian/173356001/|via=Newspapers.com}}

On August 28, 1930, eleven-year-old Ronald Ralston drowned at the Lotus Isle beach after slipping from a ladder beneath the park's main diving board.{{cite news |title=Little Boy Drowns at Lotus Isle Beach |work=The Oregonian |date=August 29, 1930 |page=1|via=Newspaper.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oregonian/173331119/}} The following day, the park's owner, Edwin F. Platt, committed suicide in the park office by shooting himself in the heart.{{cite news |title=Head of Lotus Isle Shoots Self Fatally |work=The Oregonian |date=August 30, 1930 |page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oregonian/173336012/|via=Newspapers.com}} Platt "spent a fortune" in constructing Lotus Isle, which cost between $500,000 and $600,000. According to The Oregonian, finances were given consideration in the inquiry following Platt's death.{{cite news |title=Platt's Death Held Plain Suicide Case |work=The Oregonian |date=August 31, 1930 |page=14|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sunday-oregonian/173336278/|via=Newspapers.com}} Business at the park had not been as brisk as its investors had hoped for, and it experienced "internal discord" such as the discharge of its manager, T. H. Eslick, who later sued the park for violating the agreement whereby he was brought on as manager.{{cite news |title=Lotus Isle Men Sued |work=The Oregonian |date=August 31, 1930 |page=14|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sunday-oregonian/173336907/|via=Newspapers.com}} Ralston's family pursued a lawsuit against the park seeking $25,000 in damages over his death.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oregon-daily-journal/173356220/|date=November 7, 1930|p=6|work=The Oregon Daily Journal|title=Sues Over Boy's Death|via=Newspapers.com}}

=1930–1931: Subsequent season=

On March 22, 1931, prior to the park's second season, an airplane crashed into the park's scenic railway in front of the Peacock Ballroom.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oregon-daily-journal/173365749/|work=The Oregon Daily Journal|p=1|date=March 23, 1931|title=All That Goes Up Must Come Down|via=Newspapers.com}} The pilot and his two passengers sustained minor injuries, but survived the crash.

The park re-opened on May 16, 1931 under the management of promoted Al Painter,{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oregon-daily-journal/173365404/|work=The Oregon Daily Journal|date=May 16, 1931|p=2|via=Newspapers.com|title=Lotus Isle}} with approximately $100,000 spent in improvements and new attractions. Painter created a "Dance-A-Thon" event in the park's Peacock Ballroom, which held room for 6,600 dancers. An {{convert|85|ft|m|adj=on}} ferris wheel was introduced as a new attraction, as well as the "Y-Alps", a scenic alpine-themed ride.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oregon-daily-journal/173365956/|work=The Oregon Daily Journal|date=May 17, 1931|p=6|via=Newspapers.com|title=Lotus Isle Opens Season; Improved Fun Devices Liked}}

During this time, John Ringling sold Lotus Isle a temperamental bull elephant named "Tusko" who soon destroyed several pavilions after being spooked by a low-flying stunt plane.{{cite web |title=Lotus Isle |url=http://www.pdxhistory.com/html/lotus_isle.html |website=PdxHistory.com |access-date=June 18, 2018}} The elephant, which had previously rampaged through Sedro-Woolley, Washington, eventually ended up in Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo.{{cite web |title=Tusko the elephant rampages through Sedro-Woolley on May 15, 1922 |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/5270 |author=J. Kingston Pierce |website=HistoryLink.org |date=February 22, 2003}}

On August 24, 1931, almost a year after the drowning and Platt's suicide, the Peacock Ballroom burned to the ground after a transformer explosion ignited a fire on the building's cupola and roof.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oregonian/173356634/|work=The Oregonian|date=August 24, 1931|title=Lotus Isle Blaze Razes Dance Hall|p=1|via=Newspapers.com}} The destruction of the Peacock Ballroom cost the park approximately $90,000 in losses.

=1932: Disestablishment=

The park operated once more in the 1932 season before going into bankruptcy, after which liquidation of the park property began.{{cite web |author=Josh Thomas |title=Lotus Isle: Backfiring Bamboozle |url=http://www.ccrh.org/comm/slough/hayden4.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613085702/http://www.ccrh.org/comm/slough/hayden4.php |archive-date=June 13, 2010}}

Attractions

"Whiz" - wood roller coaster
Alpine Scenic Railway
Bulldog Bumper Cars
{{convert|100|ft|m|adj=on}} neon Eiffel Tower sign at the entrance
1914 Herschell-Spillman menagerie merry-go-round -- currently located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park