Hot Dog-Eating Contest Obstacle May Become Oral History Barn

The Brooklyn Paper reports (.pdf) that the Army Recruiting office on Stillwell Avenue may become a sort of Coney Island StoryCorps:

A tin-roofed Coney Island war machine is on its way to becoming a time machine.

The family that built and operates the neighborhood’s biggest amusement empire wants to convert a battered U.S. Army Recruiting Center on Stillwell Avenue into recording studio for the oral history of one of Brooklyn’s most-historic, and certainly freakiest, areas.

“People have so many memories to share about the Cyclone, the Winder Wheel and well, everything that happened under the Boardwalk, too,” said Coney Island Voices founder Carol Albert, whose father-in-law took [sic] bought the legendary Cyclone coaster in the 1960s.

The black tin shack has stood in the middle of Stillwell Avenue for as long as anyone can remember. Although it was an active recruiting station until last year, it is mostly known as an obstruction to the annual hot dog-eating contest at Nathan’s across the street.

The recruiters’ relocation to a nearby storefront has paved the way for their old station to be, well, paved.

A source said the Coney Island Voices “studio” would be mobile so it could be tucked away to accommodate the overflow crowds at the annual July 4 frankfest.