Big Pavilion fire

Archive

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Saugatuck Douglas Historical Society

Name/Title

Big Pavilion fire

Entry/Object ID

2021.87.54

Scope and Content

The Local Observer newspaper Remembering When - Our History article titled "The Big Pavilion – Death By Fire" LO70 June, 2006. By Jack Sheridan, Jim Schmiechen and Rob Carey. Digital files use to create this article and associated resources at 2021.72.02

Context

THE BIG PAVILION – DEATH BY FIRE Friday morning, May 6, 1960, a persistent breeze waltzed briskly from the west, then turned to the southeast. The Big Pavilion’s fifty-first season opening loomed three weeks away. Manager Jack Repp was out to tell village maintenance boss Newnham to turn on the water and then negotiated the summer advertising rates with the Commercial Record. From his Chicago office, owner Herb Shutter ordered red paint for the summer paint job. Somewhere among the thousands of light sockets and miles of 1909 wiring, a cancerous short had sparked…. maybe. The Big Pavilion had minutes to live. In the Hotel Saugatuck next door, Viola Fox tallying last nights receipts answered the phone. From across the river, the caller could see smoke coming from the building. Vi punched the in-house direct-line alarm button to the Village fire hall. But it was already too late, as fire chief Bill Wilson smashed through the Dock Bar door, flames churned skyward and inky smoke boiled over the eaves of the towering dock-side wall. The beloved barn was already a funeral pyre. The only doubt was how much of Saugatuck would survive. Luck of the draw wind swept blast furnace heat and burning embers westward, out over the river and ten fire departments, hoses streaming river water, were able to contain the conflagration. So in mere hours, a Saugatuck legend, “the brightest spot on the great lakes” was distilled to blackened rubble. Symbolically, like her birth, death of the red dance hall was bigger than life, a brilliant burst of light and excitement, followed by the wonder of it all. By Jack Sheridan

Collection

Remembering When

Cataloged By

Winthers, Sally

Acquisition

Accession

2021.87

Source or Donor

Sheridan, John "Jack" O. 1938-

Acquisition Method

Donation

Location

* Untyped Location

Digital data in CatalogIt

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Big Pavilion 1909-1960

Person or Organization

Newnham, Harry W. 1891-1970, Fox, Viola, Sheridan, John "Jack" O. 1938-, Saugatuck Amusement Company [operated the Big Pavilion], Lane, Kit 1939-2024, Repp, Jack, Shutter, Herb, Schmiechen, James A., Wilson, William J. "Bill" 1915-1992, Dock Cocktail Lounge, The, 220 Water/Coral Gables/Hotel Saugatuck/Columbia Hotel/Leiendecker's Inn

Related Publications

Publication

Local Observer

Create Date

December 11, 2021

Update Date

April 15, 2025