Long Beach fun spot revives the Old West with artistry, passion
AT: Dean Lamanna
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Growing up in Southern California, Patricio Wolovich happily lost himself in the rustic environs of Ghost Town at Knott’s Berry Farm and Adventureland and Frontierland at Disneyland. At home, he enjoyed sitting with his dad watching classic Westerns on TV.
Now a father himself, with a career in creating props and sets for Hollywood productions, he spends his days dreaming of ways to make the Old West fresh — and fun — for families.
Wolovich owns El Dorado Frontier, located on five acres formerly known as Caboose Corners within Long Beach’s sprawling El Dorado East Regional Park. The mini-theme park is an ongoing project he began constructing in August 2018 around two major attractions — a vintage, preexisting railroad ride with a quarter-scale steam locomotive and a recently added, newly reimagined 1987 Chance Rides carousel.
“I was always fascinated with building things and intrigued by textures and faux finishes,” Wolovich told Amusement Today. “With my interest in film and props and puppets, it all kind of went hand in hand.”
Born in South America and raised in Long Beach from the age of four, Wolovich was a self-described latchkey kid who spent a lot of time with friends at the regional park. “There’s a nature center and a lake, and we’d go fishing. We had no supervision, but we weren’t troublemakers.”
In the early 1990s, Wolovich befriended Tom and Greg Ruvolo. The father-and-son team had spent several years refurbishing a 1946-built train ride that originally operated in Santa Ana Canyon, about 20 miles east of the regional park, and they were installing its 1.5-mile-long, 18-gauge track in what would become Caboose Corners.
“When they got the train running, I used to ride it all the time, and when I had kids, I brought them to ride it,” he said. The Ruvolos had plans to add attractions around the train, named El Dorado Express, but according to Wolovich, they had difficultly maintaining the railroad and lost interest in operating it.
Wolovich was making a decent living building sets and props — the 1997 disaster movie Volcano, the TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights are among his credits — and also owned a custom home aquarium design business. His work grew out of the cardboard model-making he did as a child; as an adult, he had become adept at mold-making, casting and working with various materials.
All the while, he felt Caboose Corners had potential. “I thought, how cool would it be to have a little theme park? I was always drawn by the aesthetic of the Old West and felt it would be perfect for this place.”
About five years ago, the Ruvolos, who were ready to retire, approached Wolovich about buying the train. Wolovich gathered a team of artists and creatives to create a package of theme park conceptual art for the city’s parks and recreation department.
Although confident in his proposal, Wolovich had to sit tight while Long Beach issued a request for proposal to attract bids from other potential operating entities. With no one else submitting proposals, Wolovich began what would become three years of negotiations with the city to obtain a concession permit and settle on terms. The city gave him five years without rent in exchange for his investment in Caboose Corners, which would involve upgrading the train and its station, adding a carousel, and enclosing the area to create a themed environment within the larger regional park.
“I was adamant about needing enough time to make our money back, or to at least build everything,” he said. “The city gets a percentage of what we gross and we get a few years rent-free to actually build the place and get it up to speed.”
Wolovich took on an investment partner, Jeff Barr, during the process while retaining control of the endeavor. The funding influx has allowed him to speed up the park’s development.
Yet there have been challenges. Tools worth about $25,000 were stolen from the site. And the 36-foot-diameter carousel, purchased from a Florida seller, turned out to be a “disaster” when it arrived. Wolovich received helpful input from Lonnie Lloyd, an associate of the late, legendary ride designer Wendell “Bud” Hurlbut, and Dave Helm of Helm & Sons Amusements in revamping the ride. Called the Crystal Corral Carousel, it now sports gold and silver horses and a thematically fitting hand-painted antique wood look.
Wolovich lauded his own crew, including his right-hand man, Alan Morales, builder Herve Cuzor, artists Megan Kallevig and Lauren Markland, and his wife, Marisol Wolovich, for helping him execute his vision for the project. Plans call for adding Western town facades around the carousel, a theater for puppet shows and an animatronic tree that tells stories of the California Gold Rush.
Wolovich said El Dorado Frontier is drawing support from Long Beach residents and others driving in from outside the city.
“It’s small and quaint, and some kids think it’s another section of Disneyland. But it’s a much more affordable alternative. You can picnic, hold events here. It brings everything back to basics.”
This article appears in the MARCH 2020 issue of Amusement Today.
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