| Dave
June 28, 2009 13:12:16 (EDT) |
Benson's memories come alive at Hudson library
By John Collins, jcollins@lowellsun.com
Updated: 06/27/2009 01:37:40 PM EDT
HUDSON, N.H. -- On March 1, 1979, Arthur Provencher's first day as the new owner of Benson's Wild Animal Park, he used a sledgehammer on an elephant.
As Provencher smashed the lower half of the elephant's trunk to concrete dust, a group of employees who were watching him nearby probably had the same thought, according to Provencher.
"They looked at me and thought, 'This guy's crazy,' " said Provencher, chuckling at the memory.
As any elephant lover or collector can tell you, a trunk that runs ramrod straight into the ground is bad luck, Provencher explained on Thursday at the Hills Memorial Library as he studied a 30-year-old series of photos that showed him pounding the pachyderm, and then how it looked after being remade, trunk curled upward.
"But maybe I was wrong to think that'd bring us luck. Because the park isn't there anymore," he said.
The mesmerizing elephant shots represent only a fraction of the photos and newspaper and magazine articles, posters, postcards, banners, T-shirts, stuffed animals and other knickknacks and souvenirs that Provencher hung onto after he was forced to shut down Benson's in October 1987.
Provencher, 79, the last of only three owners in the 65-year history of the former zoo and amusement park next to Route 111, said he would've auctioned off fewer items when the park closed had he known how the Benson's legend would persist and prosper 30 years later among millions of New Englanders who remember visiting as a child.
Starting this weekend through July 12, Provencher is putting his vast Benson's memorabilia collection on public display in the library. Admission is free. The centerpiece of the exhibit is a pool table-sized miniature model of the 200-acre park's buildings, paths and rides that was pieced together in 1985 by Brett Piper, a Derry, N.H., native and former Benson's employee. Provencher later had Piper's scale-model park covered with a Plexiglas bubble and encased in marble to make it "museum quality."
If the exhibit is a success, the Hudson selectmen may pursue an idea to employ Provencher's collection as a year-round museum attraction and possibly charge an admission fee, he said.
"It's hard to find a person, either an employee or a guest, that didn't enjoy the place. And they still do today," said Provencher when asked if he could explain the park's persistent popularity.
"It was family entertainment at reasonable prices. We probably should've been higher on the ticket prices at the gate. If we did, maybe we'd still be open. But I wanted to be fair to the families," he said.
Benson's memorabilia is regularly bought and sold on eBay. Boston-based comedian Dane Cook referenced his childhood trek to Benson's in a lengthy stand-up segment. There's a heavily trafficked Web site that is devoted solely to discussing all things Benson's. And Provencher, who now lives in Henniker, N.H., is routinely accosted by well-meaning locals who urge him to try again to reopen the park as it used to be, complete with all the animals and rides.
"If you hit the Powerball, maybe you'll do it then?" Provencher said people have asked him.
But the town of Hudson owns the property now, having bought it from the state at a discount. The town promised to make it for "passive recreation only."
Don't ask Provencher to take a walk on the old grounds today. "No thanks. It'd be just too painful for me," he said, declining a reporter's offer. "I prefer to remember it the way it was."
Provencher's memorabilia display includes numerous photos of John T. Benson, the original owner, who was a lion tamer in his youth. Benson bought the former International Fruit Farm in Hudson in 1922 and began keeping exotic animals as pets. He opened what was first called "The Strangest Farm on Earth" to the public in 1926.
After Benson died in 1943, a Boston Garden ownership group that was eventually headed by Ray Lapham bought the property from his estate. Lapham died in 1976. Three years later, Provencher bought the park from Lapham's estate.
And grabbed a sledgehammer.
Provencher had Walt Disney-sized dreams for Benson's -- including a monorail and giant roller coaster -- before financial losses intervened. During his ownership years, liability insurance costs quadrupled, the prime lending rate skyrocketed. Although Benson's drew 300,000 guests per year, that was about 100,000 less than needed to break even, he said.
"Hindsight is 20/20. And these days, I've got a lot of that," said Provencher. "Maybe it was wrong to think that (smashing the elephant's trunk) would bring luck. Because the park isn't there anymore."
But as Provencher's bid to offer Hudson a permanent Benson's museum might soon prove, the park still is there, in the public's hearts and minds.
And hindsight is also what any museum is all about.
| Kathy
June 28, 2009 11:16:51 (EDT) |
| Bret
June 28, 2009 08:00:24 (EDT) |
| Cindy Provencher
June 28, 2009 07:18:40 (EDT) |
| Jenny (Ellenwood) Conley
June 27, 2009 21:04:25 (EDT) |
Your dad was Arthur Provencher right? The owner of New England Playworld?
| Jenny (Ellenwood) Conley
June 27, 2009 20:37:37 (EDT) |
| Joe
June 26, 2009 16:44:01 (EDT) |
| john delrossi
June 26, 2009 15:28:17 (EDT) |
| Sandra R
June 26, 2009 11:13:05 (EDT) |
| Steve
June 24, 2009 17:35:46 (EDT) |
| Cindy Provencher
June 20, 2009 19:04:40 (EDT) |
| Brendan
June 20, 2009 06:10:34 (EDT) |
| Jay
June 17, 2009 19:37:10 (EDT) |
| Dave
June 16, 2009 20:14:36 (EDT) |
Bringing back Benson's
By John Collins, jcollins@lowellsun.com
Updated: 06/15/2009 01:05:08 PM EDT
Benson's Committee Chairman Ken Dickinson stands in front of the A-frame building that formerly served as the gift shop at Benson's Wild Animal Farm in Hudson. The town is currently accepting bids from contractors on a project to repair six buildings on the site, including this one. Sun / John Collins HUDSON, N.H. -- It doesn't take an experienced builder to know that fixing the roof of an elephant house is a big job.
But according to general contractor Bob Bowen of Hudson, who walked around the former Benson's zoo and amusement park grounds for two hours to prepare a cost estimate for repairing six buildings, this particular old Elephant House needs tons of extra work.
"The Elephant House is really bad, lots of vandalism. The whole roof is collapsed," Bowen said. "It's a real tough job. But it's a good job. We could use the work."
According to Assistant Town Administrator Mark Pearson, Bowen was one of 15 contractors who accepted the town's invitation to take a site walk on Friday. The deadline to submit bids on repairing the roofs of any or all of six buildings -- the Hazelton Barn, Train Depot, Main Office, A-Frame Gift Shop, Gorilla House and Elephant House -- is 3 p.m. this Friday.
"When (selectmen) find out how much it is, they're going to get sticker shock," Bowen predicted.
Although the town has set aside $140,000 for repairs to the historic buildings at Benson's, that money is scheduled to be returned to the general fund if it's not appropriated for a specific use by the end of the fiscal year on June 30, as Selectman Shawn Jasper pointed out at the board's meeting on June 2.
"The people of Hudson want this project," Jasper said. "We can't open the park with those buildings in that condition."
Per order of selectmen,
Pearson quickly wrote a request for proposals for the roof repairs at Benson's. About 25 contractors came to Town Hall last week to obtain a copy of the RFP, he said.
In January, after seven years of delays, the state finally agreed to sell the coveted, 165-acre Benson's property to the town at a bargain price of $188,000, with the conditions that it be used for passive recreation only, and that three designated "historic" buildings be preserved: the Hazelton Barn, Train Depot and Main Office.
The park, once a popular zoo and recreation area, closed in 1987.
Selectmen will take a look at bid amounts and hold a general discussion about the rehabilitation of the Benson's property during their regular meeting on June 23, Chairman Roger Coutu said. At Jasper's urging, the board will also hold a special Benson's meeting on Monday, June 29, to decide which of the bids to accept.
Coutu said he will lobby selectmen and the Benson's Committee to devise a plan to open the property to the public for walking and picnic use by mid-July.
"I'd like to see this park opened as quickly as possible, because if we have a large flow of people in the park, the dangers of vandalism decrease significantly," Coutu said. "I can envision by mid-July having the park open so people can walk through and enjoy it and have a picnic lunch and enjoy the splendor and beauty of nature that is there."
In the long term, Coutu hopes volunteers will continue to spruce up and improve the property in various ways, possibly installing an amphitheater and public ice-skating rink.
"The overall rehab of the property is going to take years," Coutu said. "I may not ever see it completed in my lifetime."
Since the town purchased Benson's, floral and gardening experts have offered to volunteer to spruce up the property. Others are offering to repair the "Old Lady Who Lives in a Shoe" structure, "if the town pays for the materials," said Coutu, who considers that a good deal for the town.
"If you read the original Master Plan from eight years ago, the cost of fully rehabbing that entire Benson's property is in the range of $7 million," Coutu said. "We're in no position to commit that kind of money, so it's going to be piecemeal."
| Nicole
June 16, 2009 18:55:58 (EDT) |
| Steve
June 16, 2009 18:35:22 (EDT) |
| Brenda Burnash
June 16, 2009 13:31:45 (EDT) |
| Nicole
June 16, 2009 12:41:38 (EDT) |
| chris paquette
June 15, 2009 19:58:57 (EDT) |
| Lisa Benson
June 15, 2009 18:48:17 (EDT) |