Crystal Beach Park ran a century on Lake Erie — the bank closed it in 1989

John E. Rebstock founded Crystal Beach in 1888 as a Chautauqua on the Lake Erie shore of Ontario; by 1890 it was an amusement park. Its lifeline was the water: ferries like the Americana and the Canadiana carried up to 3,000 passengers at a time across from Buffalo, New York, to a concrete pier built in 1921. The park's 1926 Cyclone, a Harry Traver 'Giant Cyclone Safety Coaster', was dismantled in 1947 so its timber could build The Comet.

The postwar decades wore the park down, and boat service ended in 1956. By 1983 Crystal Beach was losing business to Canada's Wonderland, Darien Lake, Fantasy Island and Marineland, and it went into receivership; the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce took the property, with Peat Marwick as agent.

Crystal Beach Park Limited bought the park in 1984 and spent more than $2 million on renovations over three seasons, but the money never turned the corner against the newer parks. The park closed for good on 4 September 1989 and the rides went to auction: The Comet moved to The Great Escape in New York, the Ferris wheel to Centreville in Toronto, and the Giant Coaster was scrapped.