Location: Fruitport, MI - Pamona Pavilion

The Pamona Pavilion was built by the Grand Rapids, Grand Haven & Muskegon interurban line on the shore of Spring Lake at Fruitport.

Notes

This was an 8.5 acre park which offered a variety of recreational activities and bandshell. It was built, in part, due to the availability of mineral springs in the area. The park was created in 1871 and served by lake steamers which brought patrons from Chicago. A hotel on site burned twice. The second fire was in 1881, and the hotel was never rebuilt.

The GRGH&M built the Pamona Pavilion in 1901, over the water allowing boaters to tie up and attend the park. Big Bands that played at the Fruitport Pavilion included Vaughn Monroe, the Glenn Miller Band, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, and Lawrence Welk. Buddy Holly played at the pavilion just months before his death in the infamous plane crash.  It was also a place where many local big bands played to eager crowds. It was an especially exciting destination for young people in the 1930s and 1940s. Several hundred people would pack the hall.

The pavilion burned down in 1963. It was not rebuilt. [Village of Fruitport]

Time Line