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JIM ROE MUSEUM PLANNING | BIG ISLAND NATURE PARK CONCEPT PLAN | APRIL 15, 2021 10 <br />Ex <br />c <br />e <br />l <br />s <br />i <br />o <br />r <br />- <br />L <br />a <br />k <br />e <br /> <br />M <br />i <br />n <br />n <br />e <br />t <br />o <br />n <br />k <br />a <br /> <br />H <br />i <br />s <br />t <br />o <br />r <br />i <br />c <br />a <br />l <br /> <br />S <br />o <br />c <br />i <br />e <br />t <br />y <br />Theme 3: <br />MYSTERIES UNDERFOOT AND <br />UNDERWATER: ARCHAEOLOGY <br />OF THE ISLAND <br />Potential Stories— <br />Like A Small City. Serving thousands of visitors a day, Big Island Amusement Park <br />required a complex infrastructure, including electricity, running water, and a sewage <br />system. Features of these systems still remain. <br />Mystic Chute. This meandering river-in-a-tunnel ride took thrill seekers in small <br />boats around blind corners and through dark passages. With special imaging <br />technology, the contours of this feature can still be seen among the trees of Big Island. <br />The Minneapolis. One of three double-decker steamers built to ferry passengers <br />between the Excelsior docks and Big Island, the Minneapolis was first put into service <br />in 1906. The summer after the park closed, she was burned and scuttled in a spectacle <br />watched by thousands. What remains of the ferry lies just south of the island in <br />70 feet of water. <br />To Banish Night from Big Island <br />In addition to the hundreds of arc lights scattered thru the trees on the picnic <br />grounds and along the wharves and promenades, the beautiful pavilions and <br />amusement buildings will be encrusted with thousands of incandescent lights that <br />will add their share to the brilliancy of the scene. Viewed from across the water <br />the island city will be a veritable fairyland of light and shadow. <br />Minneapolis Journal, February 19, 1906