8th Avenue North/Chester Street
Opened in 1970, this narrow park was located along 8th Ave. North, stretching from Chester Street to King's Highway. It featured a 200' Astro Needle, with a rotating gondola that climbed up and down it for a spectacular view of the area. Also in the park was a dark Monster ride, Moonwalk, proposed dolphin tanks (which never worked out), and a large 10,000 square foot bumper car arena ("BUMPEM CARS"). For many years, the Astro Needle was the tallest structure in Myrtle Beach. It was included on many postcards of the downtown entertainment district, becoming a dramatic landmark second only to the Pavilion itself.
[The third picture is a scanned restaurant placemat with a very large and detailed picture of the downtown area. Click here for a much larger and higher resolution version of the same picture] In 1970, Mr. Herbert R. Alcorn, Sr. of Park Real Estate, Inc. in Blacksburg, Va, formed a business partnership to develop and construct this and other amusement attractions. Leisure Way Industric, Inc. also developed the Natural Bridge Chair Lift in Virginia. Construction of the tower ride started in 1969, and it opened in 1970. Soon afterward, an old motel on the property- the Myrtle Lodge, as seen in the second picture, was torn down and replaced by the bumper cars and other amusements. The Astro Needle ride itself was located directly on the 8th Ave. North/Chester Street intersection, on the northwest corner. In the mid 70s, the bumper cars were cased in to form a building, which was the Sunshine Express nightclub/disco. This was open for a few years, and employed Ray and Randy Alcorn, Herbert Alcorn's sons. When the park was sold in 1981, the club was changed to 'Mother Fletchers', this building was their home at least through the 1984 season; it later moved to the old Seaside Cafeteria building on the corner of 7th Ave. N and Ocean Boulevard, where it operated until it closed in 2004. The park was sold in 1981 to Myrtle Beach Farms, which continued to operate the rides for a short time. They proved to be unprofitable, so the rides were gradually taken down. Chester Street was closed off in 1992, and the entire block, with the Joyland Motel, a bank, and other remaining buildings, were torn down and the Pavilion amusement park expanded all the way to King's Highway. The Astro Needle was placed in storage in a Pavilion warehouse; it's current status is unknown.
Sometime in the late 1970s, a large outer-space oriented dark ride called "Flight Thru Space" was put on top of the Bump-Em cars ride.. It was like a cross between a dark ride and a small roller-coaster; during the middle of the ride, the cars emerged into the open middle section, fell down a small dip, then back inside-- it was very fun. The ride was shaped like a huge, tall (30-40' or so) box, with a black outer-space front, with 2 rockets on each side. I vaguely remember hearing that this ride was moved to Virginia Beach. There was also a ride named "Flight Thru Space" at the Lakeside Amusement Park in Salem, VA; this ride was removed from the park in 1979, and may have been the same type or even the exact same ride.
The Astro Needle ride in Myrtle Beach was one of several such rides built and operated in the 1970s. Other known rides similar to this one were located in Niagara Falls, Wildwood NJ, and a still-operating ride in Daytona Beach, Florida. These rides were designed by an unknown mechanical engineer in Philadelphia, who was quite old at the time they were constructed in the early 1970s. For some time afterward, he was able to diagnose and fix problems that the local repairmen- mostly elevator repair crews- could not. It is likely that all of these were built by Universal Design Limited, a company based in Wildwood NJ, who built a number of monorails and sky towers.
Niagara Falls
For many years, the Falls Tower was part of the Niagara Falls skyline. Located in the Clifton Hills entertainment district on the Canadian side, it was recently closed and dismantled. Several other nearby tower attractions, as well as a large ferris wheel taller than the tower, led to a loss in popularity.
Wildwood, NJ
After being non-functional on the Fun Pier for many years, this tower was taken down on May 6th, 2009. It was advertised as being 147 feet tall, but when dismantled, it was closer to 120 feet. Pictures of the tower, with it being taken down, are online at:Fun Pier Sky Tower on the Wildwood Boardwalk
Wildwood Boardwalk
Daytona Beach, FL
Another similar tower ride is located at the Main Street Pier in Daytona Beach, Florida.
This particular tower is 180 feet tall. There is also an old-style Sky Lift
ride which takes people to the end of the 1000ft pier and back. These two
rides were added to this historic pier by Harry Doan, who bought the pier in
1966.
On May 22, 20051, the Space Needle stuck, leaving a couple stranded 77 feet in
the air. A worker was able to lower the ride, and the couple was rescued by
local firefighters when the gondola was within reach. The ride was closed until
repairs could be made.
1. http://www.thrillnetwork.com/stories_view.php/1031
