park. Background In 1901, Frederic Thompson and Elmer "Skip" Dundy had created a wildly successful ride, called "A Trip To The Moon", as part of the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, New York. The name of the fanciful "airship" (complete with flapping wings) that was the main part of the ride was Luna, the Latin word for the moon. The airship, and the park that was subsequently built around it, may have been named after Dundy's sister in Des Moines, Luna Dundy Newman. George C. Tilyou, the owner of Steeplechase Park, invited Thompson and Dundy to move their attraction to Steeplechase for the 1902 season. The ride performed poorly during that season, which was extremely rainy. Thompson and Dundy opted to establish their own amusement park at the end of the season, following a disagreement with Tilyou. Thompson and Dundy agreed to take over the site of Paul Boyton's 16-acre (6.5 ha) Sea Lion Park in August 1902. As part of the deal, they leased some land from Frederick Kister, and they also leased a strip of land on West 12th Street for 25 years. Sea Lion Park had several centerpiece rides, but the bad 1902 season and competition with Steeplechase Park had prompted Boyton to leave the amusement park business. Thompson and Dundy also leased the adjacent site of the Elephantine Colossus Hotel, which had burned down in 1896. This gave them , all the land north of Surf Avenue and south of Neptune Avenue, between West 8th and West 12th Streets. Construction and opening Dundy was charged with raising capital for the project, while Thompson was responsible for the park's layout and architecture. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle initially estimated that Thompson and Dundy would spend $200,000 on renovating Sea Lion Park. Ultimately, the men spent $700,000 (although they advertised it as $1 million) totally rebuilding the park and expanding its attractions. Wall Street financiers and Coney Island speculators each contributed half of the project's cost. By November 1902, Thompson aimed to open the park by May 2 of the following year. Topsy the elephant, who had been bought that season by Boyton to add to the menagerie of animals at Sea Lion Park, was involved in demolishing some of the old rides. During an October event that involved Topsy hauling the airship Luna from Steeplechase to its new location, handler William Alt was arrested for disorderly conduct after assaulting