Photographed on October 7, 2018

Words by the Pink Putter

Knowing that I was going to be in Grand Rapids, MI as part of ArtPrize this year, I did a little research on mini golf courses in the area. The one that particularly stood out was the defunct Dinerland Mini Golf in Rockford, just north of Grand Rapids. I had read about the history online, but wasn’t sure if the course was still standing. Accompanied by my intrepid collaborator Desiree, we decided to scope it out. And indeed, there it stood, tucked away behind the Rosie’s diner complex and partially hidden amongst overgrown shrubs was the creepily amazing remnants of Dinerland Mini Golf.

Here’s the history:

Rosie’s Diner was originally known as The Silver Dollar Diner, located in Little Ferry, NJ. It opened in the 1940’s and became famous as the backdrop for the 1970’s Bounty Paper Towel commercials that featured the character Rosie the waitress. The original owners, Ralph Corrado and his son, Ralph Corrado, Jr. renamed the diner after the commercials aired. In 1990, Michigan ceramic artist and owner of Uncle Bob’s Diner, Jerry Berta (who also just so happened to make small replicas of diners as part of his art practice) purchased Rosie’s for a mere $10,000. It was sawed in half and moved on a truck to its current location in Rockford, MI next to Uncle Bob’s diner – which was built in 1947 by Jerry O’Mahony Dining Car Company and would serve as a seasonal Ice Cream Shoppe. A third diner would be added on to the complex, the “Garden of Eatin” from Fulton, N.Y., which opened as a Sports Bar. In 1993, Berta built the diner-themed mini golf course behind the trio of diners.

Here is a great video that documents the diner in its original NJ location, and then shows it being cut in half and transported. Pretty cool!

In 2006, Jonelle Woods and her partner Randy Roest purchased the property for around $450k. That year, Rosie’s was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. The mini golf course, which was reported to have been abandoned in 2002, was restored by the couple in 2007. The entire complex closed temporarily in October 2011 for some repairs, but due to financial struggles it ended up closing permanently. The mini golf course and the diners have been sitting vacant for the last six years.

In 2012, the complex was sold to Aaron Koehn for $125k. An article by MLive states:

The 31-year-old Rockford area resident says he is willing to sell one or all of the three cars that make up the restaurant or go into partnership with someone who has a cool idea.

“My hope is there is someone that has a creative idea or entrepreneurs in the area who want to do something with them,” Koehn said. “I hope one or all of them stay in West Michigan.”

After Desiree and I explored and photographed Dinerland in its current state, I found a lovely series of photos taken while the course was in its prime on roadarch.com

I montaged the “before” photos from Roadside Architecture on top and the “present day” photos that Desiree and I took on the bottom.

And some additional photos of the decay: