Part 4 of 4 parts
Struggle to Survive
On a clear day you can see forever from Flagstaff Park. It’s been an amusement park, a home of swing bands and nearly became the City of God.
Franklin Wehr wanted Flagstaff to become a State Park, initially willing the property to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Forest and Water. He later, unsuccessfully, tried to interest the Carbon County Parks and Recreation Department in acquiring the property. He hired Attorney Marianne S. Lavelle of Lehighton to negotiate the sale of the property. In 1983, Wehr’s ownership was sold to a corporation, Flagstaff Mountain Park, Inc., led by president Thomas Klitsch.
Flagstaff Mountain Park brought in bands including the Rob Stonebeck Big Band. In 1984, Gini Smith of Nesquehoning opened the “Of Lands and Dolls” doll museum at Flagstaff’s chalet building.
After several years, Flagstaff Mountain Park, Inc. wanted to sell the property. A potential buyer, the Hare Krishnas of New Vrindaban, West Virginia, were looking in the Lehigh Valley for a site to build a walled "City of God." Their search took them to Flagstaff where they met with Klitsch.
Residents of Jim Thorpe and local politicians tried to block the potential sale. There was an attempt to pass a bill to raise $1.2 million to purchase the park as state land. The escalating tensions attracted a visit from five white-hooded members of the KKK, who said they were from nearby Schuylkill County, and held a rally vowing to "keep the cow-worshipers" out.
The Krishnas never made an offer on the property. Flagstaff was ultimately sold to Surreal Properties, owned by Jacob Arner, and Rita and Robert Hydro.
On Halloween eve in 1991, John Drury, the operator of the Inn at Jim Thorpe and the Mauch Chunk Museum, hired the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra led by Buddy Marrow and leased the Flagstaff ballroom for a fundraiser to benefit the Asa Packer Mansion. Eight hundred people attended. In 1998, he brought the Dorsey band back to Flagstaff and drew 400 guests to a fundraiser for the Mauch Chunk Museum.
In the summer of 2002, “a friend said that Arner and the Hydros were looking for partners at Flagstaff,” explained Markley.
He hadn’t seen the property since the early 1980s and his “heart just sank” when he saw it current condition. “The park, the trees, the rooftop—all gone,” he said. “A chain link fence isolated the property. I thought it was condemned.”
The chalet building had the “clapboard falling off of it” and was “all charred with a hole in the roof” from an arson fire in 1998. “It was disheartening,” he said.
Still Markley loved the location and its history, The following year, Lutterschmidt, Markley and Art Morgan bought into Surreal Corporation. Morgan was to receive five percent for marketing services. Morgan was unable to spare the time and his shares were turned over to Markley and Lutterschmidt. On August 11, 2005, Markley and Lutterschmidt bought out their partners in Surreal Properties.
Markley and Lutterschmidt have reopened Flagstaff with a new patio, a renovated ballroom, a new restaurant – Gallo's, and a new flagpole.
As this story is being written, a cloud hangs over the “Ballroom in the Clouds.” A lawsuit in progress by Attorney Marianne S, Lavelle related to a fifteen-year-old property action, raises questions as to whether the current owners can continue to finance improvements on the property.
Special thanks for information for this article to: The Dimmick Memorial Library, Gail Maholick, Ron Gower, Edie Lukasevitch, The History of Carbon County by Thomas Eckert, Thomas Klitsch, John Drury, and Tim Markley.
