1929 Amusement Park Closes
By Margaret Foster | Online Only | Oct. 8, 2009
The Tilt-A-Whirl has stopped spinning, and the carousel has come to a halt. Kiddieland, a Chicago-area amusement park, closed this fall after 80 years.
"It was bittersweet, especially when it started to get dark," says Vickie Perkins, who grew up near Kiddieland and brought her five-year-old daughter there on Sept. 27, its last day open to the public. "It sounds crazy to cry over a park, but it's not just a park; it has always been there, and it's something you can count on."
German immigrant Art Fritz founded Kiddieland in 1929 in Melrose Park, Ill., with just six ponies, and it eventually expanded to more than 30 rides. This May, Fritz's descendants who operate the park announced that Kiddieland would shut down because Fritz's daughter, Shirley Rynes, who owns the 17 acres with her son, Glenn, did not extend their lease. (Landowner Glenn Rynes of Lake Forest-based Rynes Development, Inc., did not return phone calls from Preservation.)
Kiddieland's 27 rides, including a 1950s German carousel and roller coaster, are now for sale. Four have sold already, according to Kiddieland general manager Tom Norini, whose wife, Cathy, is a grandchild of Art Fritz. Norini wanted to sell most of them to one buyer to keep them together, but that deal fell through due to lack of funds, he says. "By the end of next week, we’ll probably have to arrange for an auction. The snow is coming fast.
"It's been a real emotional roller coaster for us," Norini says. "We're past that now. We're in the fast lane, trying to get things squared away."
More than 6,000 people showed up for Kiddieland's last day, and about 5,000 joined two Facebook groups in honor of the park. Chicago preservationists struggled to find a way to preserve the site, but with neither owner's support nor a local preservation ordinance, there was little that could be done.
"We had a lot of people calling our office," says Lisa DiChiera, advocacy director of Landmarks Illinois. "It is an interesting preservation challenge. … How do you landmark amusement park rides?"
Perkins says that despite rumors that the land will be sold to a developer, she still has hope that Kiddieland will reopen.
"I'm still keeping my fingers crossed, hoping that the rides stay intact," Perkins says.
Subscribe to the Today's News RSS feed
Comments
Submitted by JimmyDane at: October 18, 2009
The closing of Kiddieland is a true loss to Chicagoland. It was a place we took our 5 children to visit every summer until we relocated to California.
Submitted by Brian at: October 16, 2009
That would have been a terrific historical asset for the state of Illinois. I went there as a kid and had a fantastic, pure, non-corporate thrill. At least it lasted as long as it did.
Submitted by travelladybjh at: October 9, 2009
How do you landmark amusement park rides??? Just ask Coney Island, where the Cyclone and the Wonder Wheel can NEVER be torn down because they are landmarks, and they should be. If they weren't, that storied and beloved place would have been swept away like sand on the beach decades ago by the dueling forces of real estate bust and boom.