Funspot's
Classic Mini-Golf...Still Popular After
43 Years
by Roger Amsden, News Correspondent
for The Weirs Times
WEIRS
BEACH - Mini-golf, which got its start
in 1916, came permanently to the Lakes
Region in the summer of 1952 when
John and Bob Lawton opened a nine-hole
course on the second story of Tarlson's
Arcade at the Weirs Sports Center.
"We were amazed at the response. All
day long there were lines of people
waiting outside the door to get inside
to play," Bob Lawton recalls of the
instant success which greeted the
mini-golf operation. Lawton said the
course was modeled after one he had
seen in Barre, Vt., while attending
college at nearby Norwich University,
and recalls that he and John worked
many nights until three in the morning
to build the course. |
Funspot's twenty-one acres on U.S. Route 3 prior to clearing for the mini-golf in the spring of 1964. |
After
10 years of successful operation the
brothers decided that for their business
to really grow they would need an
area with more parking than was available
at The Weirs and in 1963 they registered
the name Funspot with the state of
New Hampshire and started looking
for land in the vicinity of the Weirs
which would fit their needs. Click
on image to enlarge view At the same
time they were working on a design
for a mini-golf course and developed
one inspired by classic mini-golf
courses which were the rage of the
1930s and 1940s. In fact, the Lawtons
still have the original drawn-to-scale
plans of both the Weirs Sport Center
course and the Funspot course in the
Funspot archives, as well as photos
and postcards of many of the mini-golf
courses they looked at during the
design process. In the spring of 1964
the brothers purchased a 20-acre parcel
of land on Rte. 3 just south of Scenic
Road and set out to build their own
amusement center, which today has
grown into the largest arcade in the
nation with over 500 games.
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One of the original ornaments, the Mount Washington, in downtown Laconia prior to being installed.
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And
a lot of the sweat which went into
building the course was their own.
"We both took vacations so that we
could get the course ready that summer,"
Bob recalls, pointing out that the
stone walls around the course were
hand-built by John and have stood
the test of time over many years.
Some of the other physical labor was
provided by a group of Laconia State
School residents who were in programs
designed to help prepare them for
transition into the labor force. "They
loved it, being outdoors to work.
We'd pick them up in the morning and
give them lunch and take them back
home at the end of the day. I don't
remember how much they were paid,
but they certainly loved every minute
of it here," says Lawton. |
| The
19-hole mini-golf course, built around
the theme of New Hampshire landmarks,
proved an even bigger success than
the nine-hole course at the Weirs
Sports Center. "It was a big hit from
the start," says Funspot co-owner
Bob Lawton, who recalls that the turnout
the first day the course was open,
Aug. 1, 1964, was so big that more
trees had to be cut down so that the
parking lot could be expanded the
next day in order to accommodate all
of the customers who wanted to play.
But those first few months showed
the limitations of the gravel fairways
and when the course opened the following
summer it was made of cement, allowing
for a consistency in conditions which
were not attainable using gravel. |
"It's
designed to be challenging," says
Bob Lawton, noting that a hole-in-one
is possible on every one of the 18
greens but that some real skill is
needed in planning and executing each
shot. The first hole has a scale model
of the Mt. Washington cruise ship
which was built by Jim Clough of Winnisquam
and has been maintained and rebuilt
over the years by Funspot maintenance
foreman Cal Hahn. Other historic landmarks
include the Spindle Point observatory;
the Jackson covered bridge, the West
Alton Railroad station, the North
Conway Railroad station and the Cog
Railway. The scale model of the famous
Cog Railway is one of the prominent
features of the mini-golf and is easily
identifiable by motorists passing
by on Rte. 3. It was built by master
craftsman Fred Thompson, who lived
near the Kancamaugus Highway in Conway
and was well known as "Popcorn Freddie."
Other features include a fountain
and a waterfall which add a note of
serenity to the course. "People find
the sound of running water very soothing,
very calming," says John Lawton, who
also points with pride to the two
mountain ash on the course which provide
shade and blend in well with the large
boulders on the course, helping to
create the feelings of a natural amphitheater.
A shaded area with picnic tables next
to the course provides a quiet place
for relaxation with the trees muffling
the sound of passing traffic along
Rte. 3. The course even has a whale
to remind visitors of the New Hampshire
seacoast area and it is one of the
more popular holes on the course.
Lisa Mueller of Cincinnati, Ohio,
won a lifetime pass to Funspot with
her choice of "Waldo" as the name
for the whale. And mini-golf remains
one of the most popular attractions
at Funspot, having provided millions
of hours of enjoyment for hundreds
of thousands of visitors ever since
it opened.
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Mayor Hugh Bownes cuts the ribbon, opening Funspot's Mini-Golf on
August 1, 1964.
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Beautiful nighttime photo of Funspot's Mini-Golf take shortly after in grand opening in August 1964.
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