It took about three hours on Thursday, July 10, 2014, for workers to construct the Ferris wheel that will anchor the east end of La Fete de Marquette at Madison's Central Park. Here, we show the process in under 90 seconds.
Eli Bridge Company made some beautiful Ferris Wheels over the years. As a kid back in the 1950s and early '60s, I was always especially impressed by their largest wheels which were featured at the county and state fairs. Those suckers were HUGE and mighty impressive. And also beautifully lit at night. To this day, I believe that the octagon-shaped Eli wheels with their seats that rock are far more impressive than today's 200-ft-tall round wheels with seats that turn horizontally.
South Australia did actually have an Eli wheel in Semaphore (similar to the one in this video) but was cut up for scrap in 2018 as it was operating in a coastal climate and rusting had spread to the point that it was no longer financially viable to be repaired.
That is a great looking Eli Wheel! =) The star design in the middle reminds me of the Eli Wheel that sat at the now gone, Myrtle Beach Pavilion amusement park back in the late 80's / early 90's. I miss riding simple Wheels like in the video. Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock, NC still has their Ferris Wheel up on the hill and it looks very close to the Wheel in the video.
001GenLee I also LOVE these Big Eli wheels. I went to Worlds Of Fun in Kansas City yesterday specifically to ride their classic Big Eli wheel called the Skyliner. Although looking at the supports on the Skyliner it looks like they need to call in the Eli Bridge company to do a refurbishment as it had some chipping paint on it and it was fading, it was very fun! It was a couple teenagers running the wheel and at some points kept forgetting to stop it and let people off and sometimes getting people off after a few rotations, and I was one of the people they kept forgetting to let off so it was fun because my ride lasted about five to almost ten minutes! I really want to go up to Green Bay to ride Bay Beach's Ferris Wheel and I want Bell's in Tulsa to get their wheel up and running but it will be about three years. But you're right, this is a good looking wheel! Although it looks like the company that owns it needs to make a stop at in Jacksonville, Illinois so the Eli Bridge company can renovate it and add a new layer of paint on. ; )
