Thursday, August 16, 2018

ARENA #24


Posted by Chic Silber at 8/16/2018 12:07:00 AM

4 comments:

Chic Silber said...


This was a very sad story

Many attempts & much money

all went South & couldn't

save this terrible but very

memmorable building complex

16 August, 2018 02:02
Chic Silber said...


Only the concrete slab is left

16 August, 2018 02:02
Chic Silber said...


Tito still runs his flying

trapeze school on this site

He had spearheaded several

of the attempts to save it

It was a crummy joint but it

fit like an old worn shoe

16 August, 2018 02:05
Wade G. Burck said...

There was have only been one show in when the picture was taken as there is no animal tent for the second unit. The tent set up at the end of the shop, one the left hand side of this picture where the car's are parked. My understanding was that the octagon building close to the bottom was for practicing elephants and horse's. I never saw elephants in there, but when GGW had hes 12 Lipizzaner going full blast, so much dust went out the vent's on the roof it looked like the building was on fire. Boy the folks that used that arena behind the ring barn. GGW, Charly, Wolfgang, Ursula, Chipperfield etc. etc. It was never much good for an act, but all used it to train single animals or small groups. After a cement floor, peaked in the middle so water would drain off for Ursula's polar bears, it wasn't much good as pyramid pedestals rocked back and forth. I had to use it in 1991 we I went back on the show to take over GGW's act as the two net cages were on the road with the units. We put GGW's 9 tigers in the permanent cages at the back, and cut a new door on the right side for the 4 new tigers I had to train and add in with GGW's, and blocked up the pyramid with wood slabs. There was a small cement pool off to the right which had been built for Tahar's alligator's a few years earlier. There was a solid 10 foot wood wall which ran along the Tamiami Trail side for privacy. There were 3 fender bender's the summer I used the cage caused by a spinning tiger. That was Prince(formerly Charly's Prince.) People driving down the road would all of a sudden see a tiger sit up over the top of the fence, but they couldn't see what he was sitting on. If that wasn't strange enough, all of a sudden he would start turning in a circle. Tires would squeal, horns would blow, and then crash.

That historic cage is now a Pelican cage at the beach for the Pelican Man's Sanctuary. You are right Chic. Sad, it could not have been saved and turned into a museum or something.

Wade Burck

17 August, 2018 08:19

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