Lolly the Trolley to end Cleveland tours

Mark J. Price, Akron Beacon Journal
·2 min read
Lolly the Trolley parks outside the Powerhouse in The Flats of Cleveland.
Lolly the Trolley parks outside the Powerhouse in The Flats of Cleveland.

Lolly the Trolley has reached the end of the line.

The Cleveland sightseeing service announced Friday that it will discontinue rides this month after nearly 40 years.

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“Though it saddens us to end this wonderful 37 year love affair with Trolley Tours and with Cleveland, it is time for us to move on to our next adventures in life,” owners Sherrill Paul Witt and Peter Paul said in a prepared statement.

The iconic red trolleys provided guided tours around Cleveland, offering narration about Terminal Tower, Millionaires’ Row, Playhouse Square, The Flats, Severance Hall, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, West Side Market, Euclid Beach Park. Lakeview Cemetery, University Heights, the Browns, Indians, Cavaliers, Eliot Ness, Bob Hope, LeBron James and “A Christmas Story.”

Witt started the service April 15, 1985, with one trolley and had five in service within a year.

“I took a trolley tour in Boston and loved it, and thought it would be great for Cleveland,” she once told the Beacon Journal.

Groups chartered trolleys for weddings, birthday parties and other occasions. Corporations rented them for special events. Schools used them for field trips. Tourists from around the world got an eyeful of Cleveland through the windows.

Trolleys could accommodate nearly 40 passengers. The Powerhouse in The Flats served as the starting point.

“Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride,” tour guides told riders.

By 1998, the service attracted more than 100,000 people a year. In all, about 2.5 million people rode Lolly the Trolley. Its shuttles have covered an estimated 3.1 million miles.

But the COVID-19 pandemic battered the local tourism industry. The Cleveland company halted sightseeing tours and private charters through 2021 “out of our continuing concern for the health and safety” of guests and employees.

Witt and Paul cited the pandemic and other factors in their decision to end the tours.

“We will always be proud of what we did to help Cleveland become the dynamic city it is today,” they noted.

For more information, visit https://lollytrolley.com or call 216-771-4484.

Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Lolly the Trolley to end Cleveland tours