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Pizza joint adds unusual spin-off: Ferris wheel By DAVID PRESZLER A Medford pizzeria is adding a prominent piece of patio furniture. Photo by Jim Craven Pam and Shannon Anderson have erected a vintage Ferris wheel behind their pizza restaurant in west Medford. They plan to start offering rides for $1 in about two weeks. Shannon and Pam Anderson, owners of Redrock Pizza and Pasta Italian Eatery, are erecting a vintage 1948 Ferris wheel -- complete with the original ticket booth -- in the parking lot behind their restaurant on West Jackson Street in Medford. Rides, priced at $1, are scheduled to begin in about two weeks. "I wanted to give more to the community," Shannon Anderson says of his decision to put up the 36-foot, 3-inch Ferris wheel. "I just wanted something big that a lot of people would notice and something that could be enjoyed by people of all ages." While a Ferris wheel at a pizza place may seem unusual, it's a tradition of sorts for the Andersons. The couple had the same Ferris wheel up behind a pizzeria they started two years ago in Lowell, near Eugene. They packed it away when they moved to Medford and opened the restaurant here last year. The Andersons planned to have the Ferris wheel up and running when they opened last year, but parking was so limited that they couldn't spare the space. They've recently added more parking across the street, opening the door for the Ferris wheel's revival. Shannon Anderson has spent about two weeks already getting the Ferris wheel up. Before it starts running, he says he'll clean it up, paint it and put clear white lights on it. It will also be inspected by the state for safety. The ride was extremely popular at the couple's pizzeria in Lowell -- drawing both children and older folks who remembered riding on the elegant structure in their youth. "They cried when we took it down," Shannon Anderson says of the customers there. They have little doubt that it will take off here as well. "It's so pretty," says Pam Anderson. "It looks so neat at night with all the lights." The Andersons plan to add patio seating to the restaurant by the time the rides begin, much like they had in Lowell. The idea, they say, is to create a classy extra at the restaurant for people to enjoy. While modern Ferris wheels are hydraulically driven and mounted on trailers, Redrock's is driven by a 10-horsepower motor and mounts to the ground. "It's very smooth," says Pam Anderson. "It doesn't go fast. It's relaxing and peaceful." The couple bought the Ferris wheel for $25,000 from an Arizona company in 1996. It's called the Big Eli No. 5, and the Andersons say it was the Ferris wheel used to set the Guinness world record for the longest continuous ride -- more than 11 days -- set in 1993 to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Ferris wheel's invention. Today's Business Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA