GENEVA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ohio (WJW) – A treasured Ferris wheel in Geneva-on-the-Lake was toppled and destroyed after severe weather moved through Northeast Ohio on Sunday.
The Old Firehouse Winery is one of several businesses along Lake Road that has been impacted by strong winds. Power throughout the area was knocked out, and utility poles are slanted and nearly knocked over. But the most significant damage is sentimental, as the community’s Ferris wheel was taken out.
Watch: Local residents assessing the damage after Sunday storms
“We knew a storm was coming, but we certainly weren’t prepared for what we got,” General Manager Joleen Anderson said. “A waterspout came off the lake, and it just kind of picked up the Ferris wheel and threw it forward a little bit. So it’s sitting about 5 feet forward of where it was. It was running last, and it was, you know, quite a quite a surprise. I don’t think any of us ever thought we’d see the Ferris wheel uprooted like that.”
Anderson said it’s luck that no one was hurt. Many in the area have been stopping by to process what happened to the landmark that’s been a part of the village’s history since 1953 when it was part of the Erieview amusement park…