![]() "The six-block area hasn't changed much over the years," says Tunstall with pride. became the owners of the Balboa Fun Zone in 1994. Finally, one day they said, "Why don't you just buy this thing" So we did."īringing it all full circle, Balboa Fun Zone Rides, Inc. "The bank just didn't know what to do with the Fun Zone. "During that time I'd call every few months to see who we were supposed to send our rent check to,"says Tunstall. When it was turned down, Doo & Sons, stopped making payments on the property and it went into receivership. When occupancy was down, they went before the City Council and proposed the project. Deciding that the Fun Zone would be a prime spot to build condominiums, they began accumulating empty spaces as tenant leases expired. Things changed again in 1988 when Doo & Sons, a Japanese investment group, bought the property from Wank. and signed a 25-year lease to operate the Ferris wheel and the merry-go-round. Bob Speth and Joe Tunstall formed Balboa Fun Zone Rides, inc. This time around, two men who had worked there as boys were once again a part of the place they loved. Wank obtained a permit from the city to bulldoze it and rebuild.Ī year later, the new Fun Zone opened, once again beckoning kids of all ages to its bayside rides and arcades. After that, the property was passed from lending institution to lending institution until Jordan Wank purchased it in 1985. In 1956, Bob bought the Fun Zone Ferris wheel, a venture that lasted until he sold it in 1964.Īnderson owned the Fun Zone until 1972 when a lawsuit over a diving accident on a platform along its beach forced him to sell. They worked there until they graduated from Newport Harbor High, then Joe went off to join the U.S. "We were only 13 and still in the eighth grade," says Tunstall. In 1951 they started working at the Fun Zone, odd jobs at first like picking up papers and blowing up balloons. Joe Tunstall and Bob Speth did exactly that. And if you were a kid that lived any where nearby, you wanted to work there. If you were going to Newport, you went to the Fun Zone. By that time, it had become an attraction that beckoned kids of all ages from near and far. In 1948, after more than a decade of leasing the property on which the Fun Zone was located, Anderson purchased it from Lewis. Harold Hannaford owned and operated the remaining kiddy rides, the boats, the cars, the Bird Cage Ferris wheel and the arcade zone that housed such fondly remembered favorites as Punk Rack and Spill the Milk. Al Anderson, known for his love of gambling (during World War II there were secret poker games in his upstairs apartment on the Fun Zone grounds) owned the merry-go-round and the Ferris wheel: a used 1918, 45-foot version bought from a Seattle company. The old Fun Zone was run by families, much like it is today. Construction began and the Original Balboa Fun Zone was born. By 1936 his business had dwindled so he leased the land to Al Anderson. For years, he operated a boat yard there, storing and repainting boats for many of the locals. In 1906, Fred Lewis owned a tract of land on the waterfront in old Balboa.
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