A Ferris Wheel has been installed at Midway State Park in Maple Springs. The same model ride was at Midway in the 1970s. P-J photo by Eric Tichy

Midway State Park has installed a new Ferris Wheel, with plans of the ride being open to the public for the summer season.

Located at 4859 Route 430 in Maple Springs, the park opens for the summer season on Memorial Day weekend and remains open until Labor Day weekend.

The project to install the new Ferris Wheel has been ongoing since 2019, slightly delayed because of the pandemic. The park partnered with Friends of Midway State Park and Natural Heritage Trust to buy two more rides for the park — the Ferris Wheel and a Twister ride. While the Twister ride will require more work before it’s operational, the Ferris Wheel will be operational for the upcoming season, depending on the Department of Labor’s approval.

The park also had help from the public to fundraise for the two rides.

The ride is a 1946 Number Five Ferris Wheel.

“This is the same model that used to be in the park in the 1970s,” said Marla Connelly, park manager for State Parks within Chautauqua County. “The opportunity arose for us to acquire one, so we did.”

The fact that it appears to be the same model as the old wheel brings a bit of history back to the park, Connelly said. There will be a required height limit for the Ferris Wheel, with children needing to be at least 48 inches tall. Connelly said it will be a tall child/adult ride.

As far as the Twister goes, the main reason there is so much more work to do is because the original manufacturer is no longer in business.

“We have to have parts custom made,” Connelly said. “This is an Allen Herschell ride, and we believe that when it is up and running it will be the only one in operation in the country.”

The park has never had a Twister before, but has had a collection of other Allen Herschell rides.

In the future, the park hopes to have several other rides installed, including others that were historically present at the park. The two current rides were purchased from Lakemont Park in Altoona, Pa., and that park has other rides believed to make wonderful additions to the park.

“The master plan is available online, but there’s always something happening,” Connelly said. “We try every few years to do something like this, though this has been the main focus for the last few years.”

Another big future event planned for the season is Midway State Park’s 125th anniversary. There will be a celebration on July 12, as that is when the park first opened in 1898. Connelly said the park will be open late and there will be fireworks.