Moonlight garden free#

He declared that some weeks ago he stopped a dice game at his night club and also ordered them to take their slot machines out of the club.

“I’ve been threatened several times recently by gamblers that unless I let them have the gambling privileges in my place, I would not be allowed to remain in business,” he said. 20, 1935, Dexheimer told the Illinois State Journal he believed unnamed local gamblers started the blaze. When an explosion and fire destroyed Moonlight Garden on Dec. (There was also a Sinclair service station on the property, a holdover from Dexheimer’s earlier career in the gas and oil business.)Īnd there apparently were other draws too. Dexheimer also sponsored marathon walking competitions, rodeos, “motorcycle polo” contests and anything else that would draw patrons and revenue.

Moonlight garden free#

However, since Moonlight Garden was on what was then the far outskirts of Springfield – 3½ miles from downtown – Dexheimer provided free bus service to and from Sixth and Adams streets to the pavilion.īut dancing wasn’t all you could find at the Garden. After 9 p.m., the price went up to 25 cents for “ladies” and 40 cents for men. He changed that approach in 1932, charging women 15 cents and men 25 cents for admission and unlimited dancing before 9 p.m.

Louis and Chicago were regular visitors.Īt first, Dexheimer employed what he called the “park plan” for ticket pricing: each dance cost a couple 10 cents. Peaches Browning, “the world’s most publicized girl” (she created a tabloid scandal when, at age 15, she married, then quickly separated from, 51-year-old Edward “Daddy” Browning), appeared at Moonlight Garden in 1931. Bandleader Guy Lombardo reportedly said later Moonlight Garden was one of his favorite places to play. In the early years, Dexheimer booked top dance bands whenever he could. Whether known as Moonlight Garden or Moonlight Gardens, and whether a dance spot or a roller rink, the venue at Chatham Road and Wabash Avenue was a top Springfield entertainment attraction until it closed in 1964. He adopted the “Moonlight Garden” name sometime later that year, although, over the years, patrons, newspapers and at times Dexheimer himself (in ads) often added an “S” to the name. founded Moonlight Garden as the otherwise nameless “Open Air Dance Pavilion” in June 1927. Moonlight Garden flourished as an open-air dance pavilion and then an indoor roller rink on Wabash Avenue for more than 35 years.Įntrepreneur/showman Roy Dexheimer Sr. Skaters at Moonlight Garden, 1960 (Bill Hagen photo, courtesy State Journal-Register)