Arrow Development

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Arrow Development
IndustryAmusement Rides
Founded1945
FoundersKarl Bacon
Ed Morgan
Bill Hardiman
Angus Anderson
Defunct1981
FateSold to Huss Maschinenfabrik (1981)
Successors
Roller Coasters, Log Flumes
, Auto Rides
Number of employees
270

Arrow Development was an

amusement park ride and roller coaster design and manufacturing company, incorporated in California on November 16, 1945,[1] and based in Mountain View. It was founded by Angus "Andy" Anderson, Karl Bacon, William Hardiman and Edgar Morgan.[2]: 158 [3] Originally located at 243 Moffett Boulevard,[4] it moved to a larger facility at 1555 Plymouth Street[4] after Walt Disney Productions purchased one third of the business in 1960.[2]: 775 [5]
Arrow also had offices at 820 Huff Avenue.

By 1956, then secretary Bill Hardiman[6] and Angus Anderson, then vice president,[7] had sold their interests in Arrow to Wharton graduate Walter Schulze, who then became Arrow's secretary-treasurer and vice president. Schulze and his wife had provided accounting services for several small companies in the Bay Area, including Duro-Bond Bearing, which is where he likely heard of Arrow. Schulze left Arrow after its sale to Rio Grande Industries.[8] In 1979, Arrow listed over a dozen types of rides in their catalog, including 15 corkscrews, five looping coasters, 12 runaway mine trains, 43 flume rides, and 77 automotive rides, for a total of more than 200 rides installed at nearly 100 locations around the world.

Huss Trading Corporation purchased Arrow Development in 1981, but the combined Arrow-Huss went bankrupt in 1984. The similarly named Arrow Dynamics, eventual successor to Arrow Development, was incorporated in Delaware on January 10, 1986 by Ron Toomer, Otis Hughes, David Klomp, Ray Crandall and Brent Meikle.[9]

History

The early years (1945–1953)

Exterior of Hendy Iron Works (now a museum) in Sunnyvale, 2014.

Andy, Bill, Ed and Karl met while working at the

torpedo launchers and marine steam engines. By 1942, Hendy was building hundreds of marine engines for Liberty ships. The number of employees increased to over 11,500 to meet demand. In June 1943, the union began enforcing a four-month ban on overtime, during which all machinists were to quit work after eight hours and refuse to work on Sundays.[10] Hendy responded by announcing that all machinists who refused to work overtime would be discharged.[11][12] Both Karl and Ed would recall later that being told to be on the picket line motivated them to start their own company.[2]
: 154, 158 

Neither Bacon nor Morgan saw active duty in the military, although Ed and his younger brother Eugene enlisted in the

B-24 Liberators designed for secret night bombing and escort missions.[13]

During the early years, Arrow Development sold used

high altitude research with monkeys, in preparation for the Mercury Program
.

Morgan, Bacon, and Schulze are credited with building the carousel originally installed at Alum Rock Park in 1947.[2]: 231, 239  [14] By 1950, Arrow Development was known locally for its manufacture of carousels and other small amusement rides.[15]

Contributions to Disneyland and Walt Disney World

Ed Morgan read a newspaper article about Disneyland and wrote to Disney about a small stern wheel

Stanford Research Institute which did the site and population density research for Disneyland. Walt and Roy Disney had consulted with Harrison Price
of SRI’s Los Angeles office on a proposal to build Disneyland in Burbank, California.

Between 1953 and 1971 Arrow would be instrumental in designing and developing over a dozen ride systems and vehicles for Disney and were awarded multiple patents for their designs.

Arrow went on to design and build vehicles and track systems for the

Adventure Through Inner Space (1967), and the Haunted Mansion (1969). Arrow has also been credited for improving the guidance system for the Submarine Voyage (1959) and prototyping a four-track version of Space Mountain for Walt Disney World in Orlando.[22]

HUSS Maschinenfabrik
which formed Arrow-Huss.

Non-Disney rides

The 1947 carousel at Alum Rock was later moved to the Happy Hollow Park & Zoo in 1964, where it still operates as the King Neptune's Carousel.[24] Karl and Ed also set up a separate company called Easbey[2]: 293  which won a contract with the city of Oakland, California, to install rides at the Children's Fairyland at Lake Merritt, which was built in 1950. The Flecto Carousel was built by Arrow in 1950, although it was not installed at Fairyland until 2002.[25][26]

In 1955, Arrow built a demonstration children's park called Playtown, next to

San Leandro and another in Los Altos
.

On August 21, 1960, a tragic accident occurred at Playtown involving the son of Frank Freidel, a visiting professor at Stanford, known for his extensive biography of Franklin Roosevelt. While Frank's wife Madeleine was buying tickets for the miniature train ride, their 3+12 year old son Phillip wandered off, sat down on the tracks and was hit by the train, suffering massive head and leg injuries. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Palo Alto-Stanford Hospital.[27] Playtown closed soon after.[28]

Danny the Dragon guided train at Happy Hollow Park & Zoo, San Jose

Arrow developed the Mystery Island Banana Train ride for

teacup ride
which simulated the feeling of being launched into space.

For Freedomland U.S.A., located in New York City from 1960 to 1964, Arrow created four dark rides (Earthquake, Buccaneer, Tornado and Mine Cave), Spin-A-Top (similar to Disneyland's Mad Tea Party), horse-drawn street cars, antique cars (known as Horseless Carriage) and freeway cars for the Satellite City Turnpike. Arrow's contributions to the park are documented in Freedomland U.S.A.: The Definitive History published by Theme Park Press (2019). Arrow also created the Danny the Dragon train ride (two trains) for Freedomland [32] and Happy Hollow (1961),[24] the Cave Train and vintage auto rides for the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and Adventureland (New York), teacup ("snowball") and bobsled rides for Santa's Village in Scotts Valley, CA, Frontier Village's Antique Car Ride, the Timber Mountain Log and Hat Dance ("Sombrero") rides at Knott's Berry Farm, a suspended monorail and electric boat ride for the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Van Nuys, CA and Florida[33][34][35] and an omnimover type ride for Hershey's Chocolate World Great American Chocolate Tour.

Arrow reinvented and improved on the flume ride which had been popular in the early 1900s. The first modern log flume ride being

Six Flags over Georgia in 1967, followed by another at Cedar Point
in 1969. Arrow Development would build 22 flume rides between 1970 and 1975. Toomer was promoted to Manager of Engineering at Arrow Development in 1971.

Arrow's 1979 brochure listed 32 roller coasters, 12 Runaway Mine Trains, 43 Flume rides, 5 "Space Whirl" rides, 4 Rub-a-Dubs, 7 Dark Rides, 20 Special Systems, 49 Antique Car and 28 Sports Car ride installations. Arrow's 1979 product brochure also listed eight Merry-Go-Rounds, mostly installed in California, ranging from 20 to 60 feet (6.10 to 18.29 m) in diameter.

Post Disney era transition into Arrow Dynamics and S&S Arrow

When Disney opened Central Shops in 1971, Dick Nunis, then Executive VP, told Arrow, “I have to admit that we could not have done this without you. But it’s over now. We built this big facility and we’re going to do everything ourselves.” Dana Morgan recalled, “They made it very clear that it was a new era—that they now had all this in-house capability built up, and they would now do everything themselves.”[2]: 231, 239 

In 1972, Bacon, Morgan and Schulze decided to sell Arrow Development to Rio Grande Industries. Rio Grande had plans to build several theme parks, in addition to owning a coaster-building company. Carl and Ed acted as consultants to RGI for a few years. Walter Schultz sold all his RGI stock and retired shortly after the acquisition. All of the projects that were submitted during that time were rejected by RGI management, although they were often developed later by other companies. Ron Toomer stated that "building roller coasters really didn't fit into Rio Grande's scheme of things".[36] In 1977, Arrow opened a 120,000-square-foot (11,000 m2) manufacturing facility in the Freeport Center in Clearfield, Utah.[37] By 1980, they were no longer operating in Mountain View.[38]

On November 22, 1981, Huss Trading Corporation bought Arrow Development from RGI. The new company registered in Utah as Arrow-Huss, with design and administrative offices in Scott's Valley, CA.

Morgan Manufacturing in 1983, nominally to build carousels, although their first contract was for a roller coaster. In 1984, Arrow-Huss' officers were reported as Bernard Peer Zwickau, President; Boyd Draeger Vice President; Robert Peers, Secretary; Gail E. Dyreng, Comptroller. Klaus Huss, Dr. Urs. Affolter and Robert Peers were reported as Directors. In 1985, Robert Larsen was the Director of Finance.[39]

Arrow-Huss filed for bankruptcy late in November 1984, two weeks after Ron Toomer had relocated his family to Utah. Thirteen of the company’s American officers, including Toomer, negotiated a buyout. Late in 1985 the takeover was approved by the court. By that time none of the original founders of Arrow Development had any financial or managerial interest in the company. On January 10, 1986, Arrow Dynamics was incorporated in Delaware, with offices in Clearfield, Utah, and Norm Scott as President. Scott would die unexpectedly on July 1 of that same year.

Around this time (mid-80's) Arrow partnered with Vekoma, a Dutch manufacturer of farming and mining equipment, in an effort to have a dealer in the European market. Initially, Arrow built ride vehicles and the more complex track sections in Utah and shipped them to Holland. Over a period of several months Arrow taught Vekoma to build all types of track sections for their European customers. Vekoma then began competing directly with Arrow in the United States.

On January 6, 1986, restated articles of incorporation, changing the name of Arrow Huss to Arrow Dynamics, Inc. were filed in Delaware. On March 10, 1987, Ron Toomer, Otis S. Hughes and Brent H. Meikle would file an application for certification of authority for Arrow Dynamics, Inc., also in Delaware.

On May 27, 1987, Toomer, Hughes and Meikle would draft articles of incorporation for Arrow Dynamics as a Utah corporation. Issued stock was valued at $12 million.[39] On June 27, 1987, Arrow Dynamics, Inc. (Utah) and Arrow Dynamics, Inc. (Delaware) would merge, with the Delaware corporation surviving.[39] On February 22, 1988, Arrow Dynamics, Inc. would be dissolved as a Delaware corporation. The April 11, 1988, notice also states that the former name of Arrow Dynamics was Arrow Huss, Inc. In a 1988 interview, Toomer would state that although Arrow Huss had been profitable, Huss "just kept taking money out of it".[36]

Ron Toomer served as President of Arrow Dynamics until 1993. In 1994, he brought in $3.5 million in international funding and was promoted to chairman. Allan Harris was brought in as president about 1995 and was CEO in 1998. Toomer would act as a Consulting Director until his retirement in 1998.[40] Arrow Dynamics' authority to operate in Utah would be revoked in October 1999 for failure to file their annual report, but be reinstated in November.[39] Toomer retired in 2000.

Arrow Dynamics declared bankruptcy on December 3, 2001, owing more than $2.2 million to its 20 largest unsecured creditors. As part of its reorganization plan, Arrow agreed that it would no longer build its own rides.

2002 Winter Olympic Games
in Salt Lake City was lit. The steel tower supporting the cauldron was designed by Arrow Dynamics.

In 2002,

S&S Power was looking for opportunities to expand their business, citing acquisitions as the best method to do so.[43] In October, S&S founded S&S Arrow, a limited liability company which purchased the assets of the bankrupt Arrow Dynamics.[44] Despite the name and work of S&S Arrow, legally it was not a successor to Arrow Dynamics.[45]

In November 2012, Sansei Yusoki Co. Ltd, acquired controlling interest in S&S and renamed itself

attractions.

Arrow Development Properties

The building at 243 Moffett in Mountain View, which was built in 1946 by the founders, was still standing in December 2013 and the site of an automotive body shop.

The 820 Huff address appears on documents created by Arrow for the Walt Disney Company. It is roughly two blocks north of 1555 Plymouth.

1555 Plymouth was occupied by Arrow Development from April 1960 until November 1980. During that time, the property was one parcel with the address of 1555 Plymouth Street.

South Bay Construction and Development Company (SBCDC) purchased the site in November 1982 and subdivided it into three parcels: 1555, 1615, and 1625 Plymouth Street. SBCDC constructed the building currently at 1555 Plymouth Street in 1983, which was used as storage for Norcal Tech, Inc. The property was sold to Sierra Greens in June 1985 and leased to Silicon Graphics, Inc.

1615 Plymouth - Interaction Chemical leased the 1615 Plymouth Street parcel from SBCDC beginning in December 1982. Interaction Chemical purchased the parcel in May 1983. In 1992, the assets of Interaction Chemical were purchased by Interaction Chromatography, who moved out of the building in May 1992. Fusion Medical Technologies began occupying the property in 1994.

1625 Plymouth - The property was also leased to Norcal from November 1982 to November 1989 and Symtron (who purchased Norcal) from November 1989 to November 1997. During this time, Norcal and Symtron manufactured printed circuit boards at the site. In November 1997, Sanmina Corporation acquired Symtron and subsequently purchased the property two years later in 1999.[38]

On June 25, 2013, Broadreach Capital Partners announced that it had acquired the 5.2-acre (2.1 ha) site comprising 1615 and 1625 Plymouth, where it planned to develop, own and manage a state-of-the-art office project.[47] Broadreach secured $150 million in financing and broke ground on the site in 2018.[48] As of February 2020 the new building is 100% leased and occupied by Google.[49]

See also

  • List of Arrow Development rides

References

  1. ^ "ARROW DEVELOPMENT CO". www.californiacompanieslist.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  2. ^ .
  3. ^ Tavenier, Eric; Moyer, Carolyn Anderson (October 2009). "The History of Arrow Development". Engineer.net. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  4. ^ a b Perry, Nick (July 26, 2002). "Arrow Development- A forgotten piece of Mountain View's past". Mountain View Voice. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  5. ^ Poison Quill (July 18, 2008). "Arrow Development, Disney and the Disneyland POTC Ride". Tales of the Seven Seas. Archived from the original on December 7, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  6. ^ R. L. Polk Santa Clara County CA Directory, 1949-50
  7. ^ R. L. Polk U.S. Cities Directory for Mountain View, CA 1954
  8. ^ "Obituary: Pauline Schultze". San Jose Mercury News. October 18, 1993.
  9. ^ State of Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code Database - Articles of Incorporation #131482
  10. ^ "Class-conscious machinists: "Stormy petrels of west coast labor"". libcom.org. August 22, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  11. ^ "Machinist Dispute Continues at Plant". San Diego Union (Morning ed.). June 27, 1943.
  12. ^ "Dispute Slows Marine Engines". Seattle Daily Times. June 27, 1943.
  13. ^ Interment Control Forms, 1928–1962. Interment Control Forms, A1 2110-B. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774–1985, Record Group 92. The National Archives at College Park, College Park, Maryland.
  14. ^ Musitelli, Robin (September 15, 1996). "La Selva company builds fun, takes screams to new high". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  15. ^ "Say, children, did you ever wonder where merry-go-rounds camer from?" (PDF). The Town Crier. Vol. 3, no. 1. Los Altos, California. September 27, 1950. p. 1. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  16. ^ "Peralta Playland". Oakland Wiki. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  17. ^ Elam, Leland; Rosenhouse, Leo (December 1955). "Here comes the Lil' Belle". Popular Mechanics. p. 135. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  18. ^ U.S. patent 3,006,286, USD189828, U.S. patent 3,113,528, U.S. patent 3,114,332, U.S. patent 3,167,024, U.S. patent 3,251,595, U.S. patent 2,404,635, USD204282
  19. ^ O'Brien, Tim (November 30, 1998). "Pioneers share Living Legend Award". Amusement Business. 110 (48): 20.
  20. ^ Gurr, Bob (November 27, 2013). "DESIGN: Those Were The Times – No.23 1955 Arrow Development – Ed Morgan and Karl Bacon". MiceChat. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
  21. ^ Dallas, Alastair (July 10, 2018). "Bruce Bushman, Disney Legend". Inventing Disneyland [blog]. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  22. ^ Mouse Planet; WDW's Space Mountain by George McGinnis, July 6, 2005
  23. ^ Truskowski, Michael (June 14, 2013). "The Magazine – Arrow Dynamics: Disney's Coaster Partner | WDW News Today". WDW News Today. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  24. ^ a b "Our History". Happy Hollow Park & Zoo. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  25. ^ "A Carousel of Love". Children's Fairyland [blog]. March 23, 2016. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  26. ^ Snapp, Martin (March 30, 2016). "Snapp Shots: Restored Fairyland carousel opens to public". East Bay Times. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  27. ^ "Shop Center's Play Train Kills Boy, 3". San Mateo Times. August 22, 1960. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  28. ^ Carroll, Mike (June 7, 2010). "Playtown Town & Country Village, Palo Alto". Cestcop.com. Archived from the original on January 11, 2015. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  29. ^ Stanton, Jeffrey (April 6, 1998). "Pacific Ocean Park (1958-1967)". Westland. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  30. ^ Merritt, Chris (May 5, 2014). "10 photos from L.A.'s long-gone Pacific Ocean Park, a day out by the sea you'll never enjoy". Boing Boing. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  31. ^ "Alice's English Twin". Building Disney's Dream Rides: Arrow Development — The Little Company That Could [blog]. December 18, 2016. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  32. ^ "Danny the Dragon's Legacy". Building Disney's Dream Rides: Arrow Development — The Little Company That Could [blog]. May 27, 2016. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  33. ^ Streeter, Harold V. (September 2, 1962). "Your Fun is Their Business". San Jose Mercury News.
  34. ^ Streeter, Harold V. (July 26, 1962). "Firm Creates Amusement Ride Ideas". Abilene Reporter-News. AP. p. 53.
  35. ^ Simons Jr., David B. "Novelty Monorails - Busch Gardens, Tampa". Monorails.org. Archived from the original on January 28, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  36. ^ a b "COASTER WARS : ARROW DYNAMICS RIDING HIGH IN RACE FOR THRILLS AND CHILLS". Deseret News. August 7, 1988.
  37. ^ a b "Some of the Most Exciting Coasters are Utah Exports". Deseret News. June 11, 1982.
  38. ^ a b CALIFORNIA REGIONAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL BOARD, SAN FRANCISCO BAY REGION, ORDER NO. 01-010, January 24, 2001
  39. ^ a b c d "Utah Business Search - Utah.gov". secure.utah.gov.
  40. ^ Ripley's Legends of the Amusement Park Industry, by Tim O'Brien, pg 229.
  41. ^ "Thrill ride firm went bankrupt in December". April 9, 2002.
  42. ^ "Offer made to buy Arrow Dynamics". Deseret News. June 5, 2002.
  43. ^ O'Brien, Tim (August 12, 2002). "S&S moves to snap up defunct rivals". Amusement Business. 114 (32): 1, 9.
  44. ^ O'Brien, Tim (November 4, 2002). "S&S affiliate catches Arrow". Amusement Business. 114 (44): 8.
  45. ^ "Carlos Ibanez v. S&S Worldwide Inc. et al". California Courts. May 20, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  46. ^ "S&S Sansei -". www.engineeringexcitement.com.
  47. ^ "Broadreach acquires 1615 and 1625 Plymouth". Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  48. ^ "Broadreach secures financing". Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  49. ^ "Google Leases 1625 Plymouth". Retrieved March 26, 2020.

External links

Patents

  • US grant 3006286, Karl W. Bacon & Edgar O. Morgan, "Amusement vehicle apparatus", issued 31 October 1961, assigned to Walt Disney Productions 
  • US designated 189828, Karl W. Bacon & Edgar O. Morgan, "Amusement ride car", issued 28 February 1961, assigned to Walt Disney Productions 
  • US grant 3113528, Edgar A. Morgan & Karl W. Bacon, "Boat ride apparatus", issued 10 December 1963, assigned to Arrow Development Company 
  • US grant 3114332, Karl W. Bacon & Edgar O. Morgan, "Bobsled amusement ride", issued 10 December 1963, assigned to Walt Disney Company 
  • US grant 3167024, Karl W. Bacon & Edgar O. Morgan, "Bobsled amusement ride", issued 26 January 1965, assigned to Walt Disney Company 
  • US designated 204282, Edgar A. Morgan, "Passenger-carrying amusement boat", issued 5 April 1966, assigned to Walt Disney Productions 
  • US grant 3251595, Edgar A. Morgan & Karl W. Bacon, "Air car and supporting apparatus", issued 17 May 1966, assigned to Walt Disney Company 
  • US grant 3404635, Karl W. Bacon & Edgar A. Morgan, "Boat amusement ride", issued 8 October 1968, assigned to Walt Disney Company 
  • US designated 229354, Edgar A. Morgan, "Amusement park boat", issued 20 November 1973, assigned to Arrow Development Company 
  • US grant 3865041, Karl W. Bacon, "Rotary platform vehicle passenger loading system", issued 11 February 1975, assigned to Arrow Development Company 
  • US grant 3889605, Karl W. Bacon, "Amusement ride with a vehicle track portion following the shape of a helix", issued 17 June 1975, assigned to Arrow Development Company 
  • US grant 3972527, Karl W. Bacon, "Passenger powered rotating amusement ride", issued 3 August 1976, assigned to Arrow Development Company