Check Out The Seriously Creepy Abandoned Big Bend Jai Alai Fronton in Chattahoochee, Florida
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ย. 2024
- Check Out The Seriously Creepy Abandoned Big Bend Jai Alai Fronton in Chattahoochee, Florida
Urban Exploring another abandoned Florida place. Abandoned places are creepy.
Via - AtlasObscura
The Abandoned Big Bend Jai Alai Fronton
Chattahoochee, Florida
This Florida arena, once host to "the fastest game in the world," has sat empty for 25 years.
DIG DEEP ENOUGH INTO THE history of just about anything and you’re bound to come up with disputes and the occasional scandal. Add in multi-million dollar businesses, gambling, and a potentially dangerous sport and it’s reasonably assured. The history of the abandoned Big Bend Jai Alai, whose facade looms large along an undeveloped stretch of rural road, brings up both.
Jai alai started in the Basque region of Spain, and it involves a rock-hard ball called a “pelota” being hurled at speeds reaching almost 200 miles an hour off the tip of a wicker basket/stick called a “cesta.” It became popular in Latin America and the Philippines where it was promoted as “the fastest game in the world.” It has enjoyed some popularity in the United States, primarily among those who like having an alternative to gambling on horses and greyhounds. Arenas for jai alai are called “frontons,” and the first one in the U.S. opened in St. Louis around the time of the 1904 World’s Fair. In Florida, the first fronton opened in Miami in 1924.
Big Bend Jai Alai opened near Quincy, Florida in 1978, and from the outset it was a rocky road. Shortly before the opening, co-owner Stephen Calder died of a massive heart attack. His estate, valued at $22 million, was disputed by his heirs, relatives, business associates and others, in multiple court cases for more than 13 years. As an attorney involved in one dispute was quoted: “There are all sorts of wild allegations on the record: suitcases of gems, hidden gold, chicanery, injustice. Nothing was ever proven.” But the decline of jai alai in Florida since its heyday in the 1980s was caused mostly by changes in state law and the increase of available gambling options.
Check Out The Seriously Creepy Abandoned Big Bend Jai Alai Fronton in Chattahoochee, Florida
Although there has been talk of re-opening Big Bend as a greyhound track, the fronton doors have stayed closed since the last rock-hard pelota shot out of a cesta 25 years ago.
Check Out The Seriously Creepy Abandoned Big Bend Jai Alai Fronton in Chattahoochee, Florida
Abandoned places explored. Creepy places need to be apart of urban exploring.
Abandoned
Abandoned Florida .com -Big Bend Jai Alai Fronton
Big Bend Jai Alai is a relic of what is now considered a rather obscure sport, was once the fastest spectator sport in the world. Jai alai started in the Basque region of Spain, and it is similar to racquetball. But instead of racquets, players have curved baskets strapped to their hands which are called ‘cesta’. The goal is to catch the rock-hard ball called a ‘pelota’ in the cesta, and then throw it back at the front wall in one smooth motion. The added leverage provided by the cesta allows the players to throw the ball at such high rates of speed, usually hitting speeds up to 150mph.
Jai alai was once regarded as the fastest-growing spectator sport in the 20th century and was as the peak of its popularity in the 1970s. To make it easy to understand why a sport you’ve probably never heard was so popular, especially here in Florida, the only sports teams we really had here in Florida were the Miami Dolphins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We didn’t get an NBA team until 1988 and a baseball or hockey team until 1993.
Arenas for jai alai are called ‘frontons,’ and are designed with three walls with the fourth wall for spectators, which is usually just a net to keep viewers out of harm’s way. The first jai alai fronton in the Western Hemisphere opened in 1901 in Cuba, with the first fronton in the United States opening not long after in St. Louis in 1904 during the World’s Fair. Miami Jai-Alai was Florida’s first fronton opening in 1924 and is still regarded as the biggest in the world, though it won’t be the state’s last fronton.
The fronton has been abandoned since its last season in 1990
Big Bend Jai Alai opened near Quincy in 1978. Shortly before its opening, co-owner Stephen Calder died from a heart attack. His estate was valued at $22 million, was disputed by his heirs, relatives, business associates, and others, in multiple court cases for more than 13 years.
Big Bend Jai Alai’s last season took place in 1990 after the state gave permission to begin the conversion of the facility into a greyhound racing track. The plan eventually fell through. Many more plans would follow that would also fail, most recently converting the building into a casino. For over 25 years, Big Bend Jai Alai has sat vacant.
Check Out The Seriously Creepy Abandoned Big Bend Jai Alai Fronton in Chattahoochee, Florida
![[TH] RNT vs SPG - VCT Ascension Pacific - Day 1](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RUTkf8Detj8/mqdefault.jpg)
What abandoned places would you explore?
Is big bend still there or did they demolish it?
I live right by this spot
That's interesting!
I’m a truck driver and I’m literally picking up crane mats from this place as I’m typing this…..Crazy how a company operates out of this place
You mean it’s not abandoned anymore?
It’s says permanently closed
Wait, what? What’s happening there?
It looked like that's what was happening
2 of my buddies were there Saturday. They said it was a pretty legit place to explore.
Yeah it’s very interesting.
@@SeriouslyCreepy there is an abandoned Jai Alai facility in Mangonia Park in Palm Beach County. It's on 45th Street off of I-95. It's unmistakable! Very big facility.
@@SeriouslyCreepy Big Bend Jai alai opened in January 1978 and closed in April 1990 during a 2 year player strike and declining attendance. It was the sister facility to Orlando Jai alai and they both operated as a circuit for the players.
I'm a little late on this but the "moaning" in the video is pigeons, they scared the shit out of me when I was there lol
Haha creepy little guys
Is it legal to explore Jai Alai arena? My kid wants to go see it but I wanted make sure it is ok and we're not breaking any trespassing laws.
I’m literally here right now, but a company operates out of this building. I’m a flatbed trucker getting loaded from here
@@UNFTHM.Gaming yeah we drove up to it and talked to some workers there loading lumber. I asked if he’d let us sneak in but he said no. My 14 year old cried so hard over it. It was a bummer
yeah, it's private now.
@@SeriouslyCreepy Is it still private? I would love to go check that place out
where is it
Florida