Luna Park, Scranton
It occupied a 20-acre plot of land on Moosic Mountain along the eastern side of Roaring Brook gorge, opposite present-day Nay Aug Park.
[9][10] Reasonable estimates of anticipated income and profitability provided investors with the justification to approve Ingersoll's announcement of Luna Park, Scranton in the fall of 1905.
Traver's Aerial Circle Swing, Scenic River/Old Mill, Blarney Castle, Shades and Shadows, E. Conley's Shooting Gallery, a Steele MacKaye Scenitorium, Temple of Mystery, Edisonia, Trip to Rockaway, a dance pavilion, J.D.
Live vaudeville acts, exhibitions, circus, and orchestra performances were scheduled as free entertainment complementing patrons' visits.
The park had record attendance in its first years, facilitated primarily by the Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Railroad[17][18] and Scranton Railway Company trolleys.
[23] As the recession took hold of the economy, outings, picnics, and excursions no longer were reserved by church groups, social organizations, and businesses as they had been before.
[24] Consequently, these actions initiated debt as ticket sales did not cover operating expenses, lease payments, and the added cost of expansion.
[23] Rather than default on lease payments, the board of directors decided to accept new members, local capitalists that could not only pay off construction debt, but acquire land outright.
Throughout the next four years, management observed large crowds on weekends, holidays, and special occasions such as company picnics, but sparse during an average weekday.
[28][29] To counter this, the park erected an outdoor "moving picture" screen and displayed first-run films, many of which were untitled "dailies" from movie companies out of New York.
[30] Another idea planned, drawing inspiration from P. T. Barnum, was to establish a full-scale circus staged in a vacant field within park boundaries.
[36] Expenses to enhance safety forced management to double-down on recruitment of private excursions, picnics, and outings, which was met with success.
In an effort to regain depositor assets,[42] bankruptcy attorneys reviewed outstanding debts owed to the bank and discovered note 334 assigned to Luna Park.
A large outing was scheduled to occupy the park in days, and looming debt action was required, so a decision was made to recreate the dance floor as quickly as possible.
[51] By the end of the week, a roofless dance floor was completed ,but emergency funds provided by individual board members were exhausted, leading to the decision not to rebuild the Scenic Railway roller coaster station, the Shoot-the-Chutes ride, or substantially repair any other damage.
On January 5, 1917, exercising a confession of judgement clause of the Blau Bank House promissory note, the park was sold at public auction to a bankruptcy attorney, Ralph W. Rymer, representing a then-anonymous individual interested in the land.
[54][55] After demolition, the park's new owner, Peter Stipp, Sr.,[56] sold the land to the city of Scranton,[57] which then quieted liens due on the promissory note through the confessed judgment clause.
[60][61] Few park remnants are identifiable today: a dam, the circus platform, the area which once housed the alligator pit, the Shoot-the-Chutes lagoon edge, an access tunnel from Laurel Line roadbed, and scattered concrete footings.
