Pleasure Beach, Stratford CT, summer 2008...edit: this cottage burned down in March '09!!!

An abandoned 40 plus houses and old amusement park structures awaits demolition at a place called Steeplchase Island, also known as "Pleasure Beach" on the shoreline in Connecticut.

Town will eventually demolish everything that remains there (hopefully not the old carosel structure and ballroom terrace) ....really eerie place to walk around in...the house with the piano is the furthest one in on the island. Sad how such a beautiful landmark in Fairfield County with what used to be exceptionally nice houses/cottages could fall apart as such. In 1996 vandals burned bridge on Bridgport side of island which was the normal access to cottages/park and the town of bridgeport refuses to fund a rebuild. It's incredibly disapointing. The only way to access now is by boat or by taking a two mile hike along the shore. Approx half hour's walk.

So the owners of the cottages owned their houses but not land, land was leased and the town forced owners out forbidding them to return and operate cottages. Mostly for fire hazard/emergency reasons. Still I think they should have rebuilt the bridge. By the way most amusement structures had been out of commission since the '50's so at this point it was just a beach with a relaxing atmosphere and summer cottage getaways for the upper-middlle class.

Anyway, me and the boyfriend have taken several trips. This time I had him film me with my camera improvising on the old way out of tune piano in a shambled living room. Enjoy! This is the first video I have made using iMovie on my Macbook!

....about the fire..
http://www.acorn-online.com/joomla15/index.php?option=com_content&view=ar...

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• pleasure
• beach
• stratford
• ct
• cottages
• creepy
• burned
• down
• ruin

[Watchabufi]

I know this cottage. I lived there one summer for a couple of months. This video makes me sad. I suppose the owner, my friend, didn't know you were there. But seeing it this way is bittersweet. Enjoyed the views. The kitchen brought back a fond memory or two, but the rooms made me sad.

The piano sounded the same!

[kewandnotu]

@Watchabufi Wow! You knew the owner! So sad they are now all demolished. Really terrible how Bridgeport chose to handle things with the bridge :(

[groovymini]

Thank you for sharing this - I am saddened to learn that this is one of the cottages that burned down recently :(

[kewandnotu]

ya i know :( me too...was lookin forward to playing that again, even though over half the keys are broken

[waterhands20]

Are there any plans on perhaps rebuilding in the area? My father used to tell me stories of when he and my mother used to go to Pleasure Beach, and it seems like such a waste of a potential opportunity to liven up Bridgeport again in a positive way.

[KingBonacci]

BURN IT< BURN IT ALL!!!!!!

[destro203]

this would make a pretty great beginning for a horror movie. im just waiting for a guy with a chainsaw to pop through the wall or something.

[duke009]

really great video, i recently made a short about the beach and i have it uploaded on my account. it is something else being there, and really sad that its become this way, but i am glad i got a chance to document it.

[robertdobi]

this is awesome, really haunting now that it is gone.

[f14tompil]

love the piano playing, especially at 2:23, very nice

[DariusCool]

i responded when the were on fire. it was hard enough just getting out there let alone put out the fires

[TheWWIIMaster]

you guys played the piano in my favorite cottage, i wiish bridgeport and stratford would fix up pleasure beach, thats my biggest belief!